Congress' ‘used money’ charge after NDA-backed candidate wins Jharkhand Rajya Sabha seat amid cross-voting claims

JHarkhand's ruling republic of india axis accused the BJP of using "money force" and supporting cross-voting after NDA-backed main(a) candidate Parimal Nathwani won a Rajya Sabha seat on Thursday.JMM candidate Baidyanath Ram and Nathwani won the two Upper House seats from the state, people familiar with the developments told HT.While the JMM candidate's win came as no surprise, polling in the seat where Parimal Nathwani won was marred by cross-voting allegations. This is because the NDA only has 24 MLAs, but at least 28 votes were needed to win.Congress contender Pranav Jha lost the race in this seat. JMM is allied with the INDI alliance.ALSO READ | Jharkhand Rajya Sabha poll results out: NDA-backed candidate wins after cross-voting, other seat goes to JMM‘He used money’When asked about the results and Congress contender Pranav Jha losing to Nathwani, the party's state in-charge K Raju alleged that the outcome was influenced by money. "All 16 votes of Congress are intact, JMM gave 4 votes and Congress got 20 votes. This situation arose because the independent candidate used money," Raju told the media. Jharkhand minister and Congress leader Deepika Pandey Singh also accused the BJP of facilitating the victory through monetary influence."The BJP fielded a corporate member as an Independent candidate and won the election by using money power. The BJP is promoting horse trading. However, we are happy that all Congress MLAs remained united and polled in favour of the Congress candidate," Singh said, according to PTI.The allegations were similar to those made by leaders of the ruling alliance before voting began earlier in the day.Before polling began, JMM leader Manoj Pandey accused the BJP of encouraging "money-driven politics" and alleged that wealthy individuals were being used to influence elections."The BJP's strategy is to make the politics of India rely on money-minded individuals. In Jharkhand, a money-minded industrialist has been sent. That industrialist from Gujarat will use money to secure votes for them," Pandey told ANI.The BJP has not responded to the allegations.'I thank the BJP…': NathwaniThanking his supporters after the victory, Nathwani said, "I thank all the people of Jharkhand. Especially our MLAs, the BJP for giving me the opportunity to file my nomination, and for helping me in the election. I am grateful to our Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Amit Bhai, all the people of our BJP here. I am grateful to all the BJP workers, volunteers, and people who voted for me, and I will continue to work for Jharkhand."Referring to the vote count, he added, "Of the 30 votes I received, 28 were valid, and two were rejected due to technical reasons." Congress candidate accepts verdictDespite the defeat, Congress candidate Pranav Jha thanked his party for nominating him."I would like to express my gratitude to my party for nominating an organisational worker like me as a candidate from Jharkhand. I also thank all our MLAs, who worked hard and left no stone unturned in their efforts," Jha said after the results. Deepika Pandey Singh congratulated the JMM candidate: “I extend my congratulations to JMM's Baidyanath Ram; we had a tough fight and our leaders were intact.” The Rajya Sabha election was held to fill two vacancies from Jharkhand. One seat fell vacant following the death of Shibu Soren, co-founder of the JMM. The second seat fell vacant as BJP MP Deepak Prakash completed his term on June 21.