Ranchi: In a major political upset, NDA-backed Independent candidate Parimal Nathwani on Thursday won a Rajya Sabha seat from Jharkhand after cross-voting within the ruling INDIA bloc, dealing a severe setback to the Congress despite the alliance’s comfortable majority in the state Assembly.
The ruling Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) succeeded in electing its nominee, Baidyanath Ram, but the Congress failed to secure enough support for its candidate, Pranav Jha, allowing Nathwani to register an unexpected victory.
According to the official results, Baidyanath Ram secured 30 valid votes to win comfortably, while Nathwani polled the required 28 votes. Congress candidate Pranav Jha received only 20 votes.
Three ballots were declared invalid during counting—two cast in favour of Nathwani and one for the Congress nominee. Even after the rejected votes, Nathwani remained well ahead of Jha.
The outcome came as a major embarrassment for the INDIA bloc, which enjoys the support of 56 legislators in the 81-member Assembly—more than enough to win both Rajya Sabha seats. The BJP-led NDA has only 24 MLAs, making Nathwani’s victory possible only because of cross-voting and support from legislators outside the alliance.
Soon after the results were announced, Jharkhand Congress in-charge K. Raju accused alliance partners Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and CPI-ML of not backing the Congress candidate. The RJD has four MLAs in the Assembly, while the CPI-ML has two.
The Rajya Sabha election had sparked intense political activity in the state, with both the ruling alliance and the opposition holding multiple rounds of discussions and strategy meetings before polling. The INDIA bloc fielded two candidates—JMM’s Baidyanath Ram and Congress’s Pranav Jha—while Nathwani contested as an Independent with the backing of the NDA.
Voting took place peacefully in the Assembly, with all 81 legislators casting their ballots. Chief Minister Hemant Soren, cabinet ministers and opposition leaders participated in the election process.
Reacting to his victory, Nathwani thanked the legislators who voted for him and said Jharkhand held a special place in his political journey.
“This is my fourth term in the Rajya Sabha and my third from Jharkhand, the state where my parliamentary journey began in 2008. I am deeply grateful for the trust reposed in me and will continue to work for the development and aspirations of Jharkhand,” he said in a post on X.
BJP MP Nishikant Dubey hailed Nathwani’s victory, calling it a significant political setback for the Mahagathbandhan and pointing to the wide margin between Nathwani’s 28 votes and the Congress candidate’s 20.
The result is being viewed as one of the biggest political surprises in Jharkhand in recent years, exposing cracks within the INDIA bloc and raising fresh questions over coordination among its alliance partners despite their numerical strength in the Assembly.
With inputs from IANS