Cross-voting in Jharkhand RS election: NDA-backed Independent candidate Nathwani wins
Second seat goes to Jharkhand Mukti Morcha candidate Baidyanath Ram
Amid cross-voting, NDA-supported Independent candidate Parimal Nathwani on Thursday won one of the two Rajya Sabha seats in Jharkhand, defeating the Congress’s Pranav Jha, an official said.
The ruling Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) candidate Baidyanath Ram was elected to the other seat.
Nathwani polled 28 votes after which he was declared the winner, the official said. Jha bagged 20 votes.
Ram received 30 votes in the election, while three votes -- two from the BJP and one from the Congress—were found invalid, the official said.
The BJP-led NDA has 24 MLAs, four short of the minimum of 28 first-preference votes required in the 81-member Assembly to secure a berth in the Upper House of Parliament.
The ruling INDIA bloc, including the JMM and the Congress, has 56 members in the House.
