Ranchi — The fallout from the Congress party’s defeat in the Jharkhand Rajya Sabha elections deepened on Friday, with CPI(ML) Liberation and the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) firmly rejecting allegations of cross-voting and defending their support for the Congress candidate.
Seeking to quell the growing controversy, CPI(ML) General Secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya wrote to Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, urging him to intervene and stop what he termed “unfounded allegations” being levelled by some Congress leaders in Jharkhand.
In his letter, Bhattacharya said both CPI(ML) legislators had voted for the Congress nominee in accordance with the INDIA bloc’s understanding and coalition commitments. He stressed that the party’s authorised polling agents had verified the votes cast by its MLAs during the election, ruling out any possibility of cross-voting.
The CPI(ML) leader warned that public accusations against alliance partners without evidence could harm the party’s reputation and weaken the cohesion of the INDIA bloc. He also criticised sections of the media for amplifying the allegations without independently verifying the facts or seeking the party’s response.
Reiterating CPI(ML)’s commitment to opposition unity, Bhattacharya said the party has consistently worked to strengthen the INDIA alliance, particularly in Bihar and Jharkhand, and described the allegations as both disappointing and unjustified.
RJD leaders also came out strongly against the Congress charge. Addressing a press conference in Ranchi, RJD National General Secretary Bhola Yadav and the party’s Jharkhand unit chief maintained that all RJD MLAs had voted for the Congress candidate in line with instructions issued by party president Lalu Prasad.
Yadav said he was present as an authorised polling agent during the voting process and personally saw the MLAs display their ballots, making any allegation of cross-voting entirely baseless.
The dispute follows Thursday’s Rajya Sabha election results in Jharkhand, where JMM candidate Baijnath Ram and NDA-backed Independent candidate Parimal Nathwani won the two available seats. Congress nominee Pranav Jha, however, failed to secure enough support and was defeated.
After the results were announced, Jharkhand Congress in-charge K. Raju and some other party leaders hinted that alliance partners, including CPI(ML) and RJD, may not have backed the Congress candidate fully, sparking a fresh round of friction within the opposition bloc.
With inputs from IANS