RJD hits back at Congress over Rajya Sabha cross-voting row in Jharkhand
Synopsis
The INDIA Bloc’s internal fault lines cracked open in Jharkhand as RJD and Congress traded cross-voting accusations after Congress candidate Pranav Jha lost the Rajya Sabha poll. RJD’s counter-charge — that Congress’s own MLAs may have cut a deal with the BJP — is the sharpest intra-alliance attack yet, and signals how fragile opposition unity remains beneath the surface.
Key Takeaways
Congress candidate Pranav Jha lost the Rajya Sabha election in Jharkhand , triggering a cross-voting row within the INDIA Bloc .
Congress incharge K.
Raju alleged that RJD and CPI-ML MLAs cross-voted in favour of the NDA -backed candidate.
RJD leader Sanjay Prasad Yadav counter-alleged that a section of Congress MLAs may have ‘made a deal’ with the BJP .
RJD National General Secretary Bhola Yadav and MLA Suresh Paswan both denied cross-voting and reaffirmed support for the Hemant Soren government.
Congress spokesperson Shama Mohamed cited the party’s clean sweep of five Rajya Sabha seats in Karnataka to rebut the counter-allegations.
The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) on Friday, 19 June sharply counter-attacked the Indian National Congress (Congress) over allegations of cross-voting in the Rajya Sabha elections, claiming that a section of Congress legislators may have themselves “made a deal” with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The exchange lays bare deepening fissures within the INDIA Bloc in Jharkhand, following the defeat of Congress candidate Pranav Jha in the polls.
How the Allegations Began
Congress’s Jharkhand incharge K. Raju triggered the dispute by claiming that while Congress and Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) legislators voted as directed, the RJD and the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) [CPI-ML] allegedly withheld support. Raju alleged that some MLAs from these parties cross-voted in favour of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA)-backed candidate, directly costing Jha the seat.
RJD’s Counter-Charge Against Congress
Jharkhand Minister and RJD leader Sanjay Prasad Yadav rejected the charge outright, invoking the party’s ideological identity. “The principles and ideology of our leader Lalu Prasad Yadav and the Rashtriya Janata Dal can never compromise with the BJP and the RSS,” he said.
He turned the allegation back on Congress, saying: “K. Raju himself knows that the MLAs of his party are divided into various sections, some of them might have made a deal with the BJP and voted accordingly, and now allegations are being framed against RJD.”
RJD National General Secretary Bhola Yadav backed that position, asserting that RJD members voted for the Congress candidate and that the Congress incharge was “making baseless statements only to hide his own mistakes.”
RJD MLAs Reaffirm Loyalty to Hemant Soren Government
RJD MLA Suresh Paswan declared at a press conference: “We stand firmly with the Hemant Soren government. It is the Congress MLAs and K. Raju who have betrayed.”
Jharkhand RJD President Sanjay Kumar Singh Yadav added that the party was “answerable to the leadership of our party, not the Congress,” and reminded critics that RJD leaders had consistently stood by Congress in difficult moments.
Congress Holds Its Ground
Congress spokesperson Shama Mohamed rejected the counter-allegations, pointing to the party’s clean sweep in Karnataka as proof of discipline. “We won all (five Rajya Sabha seats) in Karnataka. So don’t blame the Congress party. It is the RJD and the CPI-ML which has cross-voted,” she said.
What This Signals for the INDIA Bloc
This is not the first time Rajya Sabha balloting has exposed cracks in opposition unity. The mutual blame between two alliance partners — both formally part of the INDIA Bloc — publicly undermines the coalition’s claim of cohesion ahead of state-level electoral cycles. Notably, the dispute erupts even as the bloc is trying to project a unified front nationally. How Jharkhand’s alliance partners manage the fallout will be closely watched in the run-up to the state’s next assembly election.
Point of View
Which hands the NDA a ready-made narrative about opposition unreliability. What is missing from both sides is any credible internal audit: Rajya Sabha balloting is by secret vote, making definitive attribution nearly impossible, yet both camps are asserting certainty. The deeper problem is structural — alliances stitched together for electoral arithmetic, without ideological glue or disciplined vote management, are inherently prone to this. Jharkhand will be a bellwether for whether the bloc can repair trust before the next assembly cycle.
NationPress
11 Aug 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
Why did the RJD-Congress cross-voting row erupt in Jharkhand?
The dispute broke out after Congress candidate Pranav Jha lost the Rajya Sabha election in Jharkhand. Congress incharge K. Raju alleged that RJD and CPI-ML MLAs cross-voted for the NDA-backed candidate instead of supporting Jha, prompting a sharp denial and counter-allegation from the RJD.
What did RJD say in response to the cross-voting allegations?
RJD leader Sanjay Prasad Yadav denied the charge and alleged that a section of Congress’s own MLAs may have ‘made a deal’ with the BJP and voted accordingly. RJD National General Secretary Bhola Yadav also rejected the allegations as baseless, saying RJD members voted for the Congress candidate.
How did Congress respond to RJD’s counter-allegations?
Congress spokesperson Shama Mohamed stood by the original allegation, pointing to the party’s clean sweep of all five Rajya Sabha seats in Karnataka as evidence of its own discipline, and maintained that RJD and CPI-ML were responsible for the cross-voting in Jharkhand.
What does this row mean for the INDIA Bloc in Jharkhand?
The public exchange of cross-voting allegations between two INDIA Bloc partners exposes significant trust deficits within the coalition in Jharkhand. It raises questions about the bloc’s ability to coordinate votes and present a united front ahead of future state elections.
Who is Pranav Jha and why does his defeat matter?
Pranav Jha was the Congress candidate in the Rajya Sabha election from Jharkhand. His defeat, despite the INDIA Bloc holding enough combined seats to elect him in theory, is what triggered the cross-voting allegations and the subsequent intra-alliance dispute.
