Congress is blaming cross-voting for Pranav Jha’s defeat,but RJD and CPI(ML) are clearly not accepting that charge at all.
The allegation came from K Raju,the All India Congress Committee (AICC) in-charge for Jharkhand . He claimed MLAs from RJD and CPI(ML) voted against Jha and that this changed election outcome. Big claim ah,especially inside alliance.
But CPI(ML) did not stay quiet. CPI(ML) general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya wrote to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and showed strong displeasure over these allegations . His line was very direct: "This is malicious lie. Both our MLAs voted for Mr. Jha as planned in meeting of opposition MLAs."
And this is where matter becomes bigger than one Rajya Sabha seat only. Bhattacharya also warned that making unverified claims can damage trust between alliance parties. That trust issue is not small thing when same parties are trying to stand together against BJP .
Few things standing out clearly here:
- Congress has alleged cross-voting after Pranav Jha got 20 votes .
- CPI(ML) says both its MLAs voted for Jha as decided.
- RJD says all four of its MLAs voted for INDIA bloc candidate.
RJD also came out strongly. RJD national general secretary Bhola Yadav said all four MLAs of party voted for INDIA bloc candidate and rejected Congress claims as baseless . He even said,"The (Congress) in-charge here is making baseless statements only to hide his own mistakes."
And tbh,that statement shows how much bitterness is now sitting inside opposition camp. One side is talking about betrayal,other side is saying Congress is just covering up its own failure. Not exactly healthy alliance mood.
Meanwhile,JMM general secretary Vinod Pandey also said all JMM MLAs voted in favour of alliance candidates . He added that Mahagathbandhan would review election results and look at shortcomings. That sounds calm,but clearly some damage control is happening rn.
Actual numbers also explain why everyone is tense. Parimal Nathwani from NDA-backed Independent candidate got 28 votes,Pranav Jha got 20 votes,and Baidyanath Ram was elected with 30 votes . Once numbers came out,questions inside alliance naturally started flying.
But bigger issue is not just who voted where. If Congress,RJD,CPI(ML) and JMM are already arguing like this after one election,then how will they keep unity for future fights against BJP? For now,everyone is denying,everyone is defending,and trust is hanging somewhere in middle…
