‘A Malicious Lie’: CPI(ML) Liberation Rejects Congress Allegations Of Cross-Voting In Jharkhand RS Polls
CPI(ML) Liberation wrote a letter to Congress chief, denying cross-voting allegations in Jharkhand Rajya Sabha election and registered a strong protest.
Published : June 19, 2026 at 2:15 PM IST
New Delhi:The Communist Party of India-Marxist–Leninist (CPI-ML) Liberation on Friday strongly denied cross voting by the left party Jharkhand MLAs for the defeat of Congress nominee Pranav Jha in the June 18 Rajya Sabha election.
In a ‘protest letter’ to Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge, the CPI(ML) Liberation General Secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya termed the accusations of voting against Congress candidate “a malicious lie”. He claimed that both CPI(ML) Liberation legislators voted as planned for Jha, confirmed by polling agents who verified the votes before ballots were cast.
Jharkhand Congress chief K Raju earlier alleged that alliance partners Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and CPI(ML) Liberation did not vote for Congress candidate Jha, resulting in his defeat.
“I write to you to express our strong protest against the wholly unfounded and malicious propaganda against our MLAs and the attempted tarnishing of our party's image,” Bhattacharya said in the letter.
He said that the CPI(ML) Liberation MLAs in Bihar and Jharkhand had consistently voted for opposition candidates in Rajya Sabha elections, urging Congress leaders to stop making “unverified and unwarranted allegations” that threaten alliance unity.
The National Democratic Alliance (NDA)-backed Independent candidate Parimal Nathwani secured one of the two Rajya Sabha seats from Jharkhand, defeating Jha. The other seat was won by JMM candidate Baidyanath Ram.
Per the results, Nathwani polled 28 votes, while Jha secured 20. Ram received 30 votes. Three votes -- two from the BJP, one from the Congress -- were declared invalid. The ruling INDIA bloc has 56 members in the 81-Jharkhand Assembly, while the BJP-led NDA has 24 MLAs.
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