New Delhi, Jun 19 (PTI) Calling the cross-voting charges levelled against CPI(ML) Liberation MLAs in Jharkhand “malicious”, party general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya on Friday wrote to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge expressing “strong protest” against the allegation.
In the letter, Bhattacharya said CPI(ML) Liberation has been one of the most committed constituents of the INDIA bloc since its formation, and warned against “unwarranted allegations” that undermine mutual trust among parties of the alliance.
“We are shocked to see the Congress blaming our MLAs for the defeat of its nominee Pranav Jha in the Rajya Sabha election from Jharkhand on June 18,” Bhattacharya said in the letter.
“This is a malicious lie. Both our MLAs voted for Mr Jha as planned in the meeting of opposition MLAs. Our polling agents duly verified the votes before the ballots were cast,” he said.
Expressing “strong protest”, he called it “wholly unfounded and malicious propaganda against our MLAs and an attempt to tarnish our party’s image”.
“In election after election, our MLAs in Bihar and Jharkhand have voted for opposition candidates in the Rajya Sabha. As you know, our party has been one of the most committed constituents of the INDIA bloc since its formation,” he said.
“We call upon you to ask Congress leaders to stop making unverified and unwarranted allegations against allies that undermine mutual trust among parties of the INDIA bloc,” Bhattacharya added.
CPI(ML) Liberation on Thursday asserted that the party’s two MLAs voted for the Congress candidate in the election, rejecting Congress’s allegations of cross-voting. The party also accused the Congress of failing to secure the support of all of its own MLAs.
Jharkhand Congress in-charge K Raju had blamed alliance partners Rashtriya Janata Dal and CPI(ML) Liberation for Jha’s defeat, claiming that the two parties did not vote for him.
NDA-backed Independent candidate Parimal Nathwani secured one of the two Rajya Sabha seats from Jharkhand, defeating Jha. JMM candidate Baidyanath Ram won the other seat.
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-member Jharkhand Assembly, while the BJP-led NDA has 24 MLAs. PTI AO RUK RUK
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