Congress left red-faced as cross-voting by allies costs it Jharkhand Rajya Sabha seat

Congress candidate Pranav Jha, left, with Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) candidate Baidyanath Ram after they cast their votes during the Rajya Sabha elections, at Jharkhand Assembly. (PTI Photo)

4 min readNew Delhi, RanchiJun 18, 2026 08:18 PM IST

First published on: Jun 18, 2026 at 06:37 PM IST

In a blow to the Congress, the party lost the election for one of the two Rajya Sabha seats up for grabs in Jharkhand because of cross-voting by its INDIA bloc allies. While the Congress alleged that RJD and CPI (M-L) Liberation MLAs voted for the NDA-backed candidate, the Left party denied the accusation.

Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) candidate and former minister Baidyanath Ram won while the second seat went to NDA-backed Independent Parimal Nathwani, who is the Director of Corporate Affairs for Reliance Industries. He defeated the Congress’s Pranav Jha, who is the All India Congress Committee (AICC) secretary attached to party president Mallikarjun Kharge’s office.

In the 81-member Jharkhand Assembly, a candidate required 28 first-preference votes to win. The JMM-led alliance has a total of 56 MLAs and without cross-voting, both of its candidates would have sailed through. Sources said Ram received 30 votes while Nathwani got 30 votes, but two were found to be invalid. Jha could manage only 21 votes, with one vote declared invalid.

The four RJD MLAs and two legislators of the CPI(M-L) Liberation did not vote for Jha, the Congress alleged. The AICC’s Jharkhand in-charge, K Raju, claimed that 16 MLAs of the party and the four additional JMM votes went to Jha. He alleged that the RJD and CPI(M-L) Liberation had “betrayed the alliance”, accusing the BJP of engineering the outcome through “horse-trading”.

Denying the allegation, CPI (M-L) Liberation general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya posted on X, “As for speculations over Jharkhand Rajya Sabha voting, we can tell with full responsibility that our two MLAs voted for the Congress candidate as planned. Two of our senior leaders PBM Haldhar Mahato and CCM Geeta Mandal duly verified the votes cast by @cpimlliberation MLAs.”

Dismissing the allegations, CPI(M-L) MLA Arup Chatterjee said, “It is very easy to point fingers at small parties. If the Congress claims it had 20 votes, how can it be assumed that only the RJD or the CPI (M-L) votes were responsible? Why can’t the discrepancy be from elsewhere? No one should comment without knowing all the facts,” he said.

Chatterjee said even if his party’s two votes had gone elsewhere, the result would not necessarily have changed. “If two votes were not cast as claimed, that alone would not have ensured victory,” he said.

RJD state spokesperson Kailash Yadav said it would be premature to draw any conclusions without official confirmation. “We need to wait and see what the RJD high command has to say on the matter,” he said.

Nathwani reacts

Following his election to the Rajya Sabha for the fourth time, Nathwani posted on X, “This moment is filled with profound emotion as this will be my third term from Jharkhand, the very soil from where my Parliamentary journey began in 2008. It is a matter of immense pride and humility to return once again to my karmabhoomi.”

The businessman thanked the MLAs who voted for him. “With renewed commitment and sincerity, every effort will continue to advance the interests and aspirations of Jharkhand and its people. Johar Jharkhand!” he added.

Nathwani, a Reliance executive from Gujarat, represented Jharkhand in the Rajya Sabha for two consecutive terms between 2008 and 2020, both times as an Independent. In the last tenure in the Upper House, he represented the YSR Congress Party as an MP from Andhra Pradesh.

Over the years, Nathwani has built relationships across party lines in Jharkhand, leading to speculation that he could attract support beyond the NDA’s official numbers. Before this election, his meeting with Chief Minister and JMM leader Hemant Soren sparked speculation, before he eventually secured the NDA’s backing.