The victory of Parimal Nathwani, an Independent candidate backed by the BJP, in the Rajya Sabha poll held on June 18, has left the ruling I.N.D.I.A block partners locked in a rift.

Nathwani was elected due to cross-voting indulged in by the legislatures of the I.N.D.I.A block in favour of Nathwani.

Who among these I.N.D.I.A blocks members comprising the MLAs of the JMM, Congress, RJD, and Communists belonging to the CPI ( ML) had voted for Nathwani, resulting in a humiliating defeat of their partner party, Congress, Pranav Jha?

Nobody knows the truth. Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren, who had preferred to meet Nathwani inside his official residence before the latter filed his nomination on June 7.

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This was the time when the Congress high command had already announced its move to field Congress Pranav Jha as its candidate. Soren was spotted having tea with BJP legislators in the assembly canteen during the voting of the Rajya Sabha poll. It had sparked a brief political discussion. While the encounter made headlines, leaders from both sides dismissed it as a routine and light-hearted interaction rather than a major political realignment.

After the result was announced I.N.D.I.A block partner, Congress leader Rajesh Thakur, said the party had expected 26 votes but secured only 21 valid votes, while one vote was declared invalid.

In all, against hope of securing 26 votes, Congress’s Jha received only 21, while one vote was declared invalid.

“ In our alliance, we had 16 Congress votes, four from the JMM, four from the RJD and two from the CPI(ML). It appears that we did not receive the votes of the RJD and CPI(ML). There has been a betrayal, and betrayal happens only where there is trust. Everyone needs to seriously introspect on this.”

This was said by Thakur while blaming the RJD and CPI (ML) for indulging in cross-voting against his party candidate Jha and in favour of the BJP-backed Nathwani.

Even the Jharkhand Congress in-charge K Raju accused the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and Left party of betraying the Congress. He alleged that legislators from the RJD and Left parties may have accepted money and voted in favour of the NDA-backed candidate.

Raju claimed that Congress candidate Pranav Jha had received the support of all 16 Congress MLAs and suggested that cross-voting by alliance partners led to his defeat.

But both CPI (ML) and RJD hit back at Congress, claiming their MLAs had voted for the Congress.

The RJD strongly rejected the allegations and instead blamed Congress for failing to secure the support of all its own legislators.

In a statement, the party said the Jharkhand Rajya Sabha election results clearly showed that Congress had been unable to keep its MLAs united. It advised Congress to introspect before making "baseless allegations" against alliance partners.

The RJD further pointed to previous Rajya Sabha biennial elections held in March, alleging that several Congress MLAs had openly cross-voted in favour of the BJP or remained absent during voting. The party questioned whether Congress had taken any action against those legislators, adding that some of them continue to appear alongside the party's senior leadership.

What is noteworthy is that neither any leader of the Congress, RJD, nor the CPI( ML) raised doubt on the credibility of the JMM legislators, nor dared to question the JMM leader and the CM Hemant Soren.

In any case, the Rajya Sabha poll was held for two Rajya Sabha seats in Jharkhand. NDA-backed independent candidate Parimal Nathwani secured 28 votes, while Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) candidate Baijnath Ram received 31 votes.

Rajya Sabha Returning Officer Ranjit Kumar said three candidates were in the fray -- Congress candidate Pranav Jha, JMM's Baijnath Ram, and independent candidate Parimal Nathwani.

A total of 81 legislators cast their votes. During the counting process, 78 votes were found valid, while three votes were declared invalid. Following approval from the Election Commission of India, Baijnath Ram and Parimal Nathwani were declared elected to the Rajya Sabha.