New Delhi:
A BJP-backed candidate won a seat in Jharkhand’s Rajya Sabha election today, after cross-voting by MLAs of the CPI(ML) and Lalu Yadav’s Rashtriya Janata Dal, sources said.
One seat was won by Baijnath Ram of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha. The other went to BJP-backed independent candidate Parimal Nathwani.
Baijnath Ram polled 30 votes and Nathwani 28 votes. The Congress candidate, Pranav Jha, got 19 votes and three votes were declared invalid.
Sources said MLAs from RJD and CPI(ML) had voted for Nathwani. RJD has four MLAs and CPI(ML) two.
The Congress received votes from its 16 MLAs and four MLAs of ally JMM. The JMM used two additional votes to ensure the victory of its own candidate. The remaining four went to Congress.
In Jharkhand, the JMM has 34 MLAs, Congress 16, RJD 4, and CPI(ML) 2 MLAs.
In a post on social media platform X, Nathawani — a three-time member of the upper house — expressed his gratitude.
“Deeply grateful for the opportunity to serve the fourth term as the Member of Rajya Sabha. This moment is filled with profound emotion… Extending sincere gratitude to Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, Hon’ble Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation Shri Amit Shah, BJP National President Shri Nitin Nabin and the BJP-led NDA for their support,” his post read.
The victory of the BJP-backed candidate comes amid a political turmoil in Bengal and Maharashtra that is expected to boost the numbers of the NDA in both houses of parliament.
With the monsoon session ahead, there is a buzz that the government will introduce the women’s reservation and delimitation bills again. The bills — one of them a constitution amendment bill that needs two-thirds majority to pass — were presented in the second half of the budget session. But they were blocked by a united Opposition in the Lok Sabha.
Now with the split in Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress and another one waiting to happen in Uddhav Thackeray’s faction of the Shiv Sena, the NDA could end up with 26 more MLAs in the Lok Sabha.
Currently the NDA has 298 MPs in the Lok Sabha, the Opposition has 184. There are also 38 MPs who are non-aligned. So, to pass Constitution amendment Bills, the government needs another 42 MPs. The Trinamool and Sena numbers will add 26 more MPs to the NDA side.
As far as Rajya Sabha is concerned, 164 MPs are needed for a two-thirds majority. The maximum sanctioned strength of the Rajya Sabha is 250, but it currently has 245 members. The NDA has 150 MPs. 164 MPs are needed for a two-thirds majority.
