Cross-voting Likely In Jharkhand Rajya Sabha Polls

The stench of horse-trading in the upcoming Rajya Sabha polls in Jharkhand has started pervading in the corridor of powers once again. With the nomination of the third candidate by the BJP for the elections to the two Rajya Sabha seats in the State, MLAs from Jharkhand Mukti Morcha are on target to be lured to reach the magic number of 28 votes for each seat.

As per the numerical strength in the State Assembly, the ruling BJP and JMM are all set to bag each of the two seats. While the BJP and its lone ally, AJSU have 47 votes, the JMM with the support of Congress and Jharkhand Vikas Morcha claims to have the required number of 28.

As long as BJP had declared Union Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi its candidate and the JMM had made the youngest son of the party supremo, Sibu Soren, Vasant Soren, its official candidate for the second seat, the electioneering was expected to be held in a fair atmosphere. But nomination of Mahesh Poddar by the BJP for the second seat is poised to vitiate the polls.

Sources privy to the BJP state leadership claimed that 7 or 8 MLAs of the JMM were in touch with the party and they were supposed to do cross-voting. It is believed that a section of the JMM MLAs is against the party high-command's decision to make Vasant Soren its candidate. The restive MLAs are said to have contended that as more members of the Soren family are promoted in politics, the party will have to face more allegations for its reign of nepotism and dynastic rule.

These JMM MLAs are said to be in negotiation with the BJP in general and Poddar in particular to strike a deal. Although the BJP leader and State Chief Minister, Raghubar Das, has claimed that the second candidate was fielded by the party to keep the party's votes intact and ward off the possible threat of horse-trading in the elections, former Chief Minister and JMM Executive President Hemant Soren accused the BJP of abetting horse-trading by fielding the third candidate in the elections. Hemant Soren contended that the BJP was supposed to have such numerical strength in the house with which it could win a single seat and on the other hand, he had substantial support to bag the second seat. He claimed that the BJP had fielded its second candidate with the avowed objective to get both seats by abetting horse-trading in the State.

Incidentally, the BJP aims to reap benefits of the infighting within the JMM over the RS seat. Initially, one of the party bearers had staked his claim for the seat. The aspirant accompanied Hemant Soren during the latter's recent meeting with Congress President Sonia Gandhi in New Delhi. The aspirant is said to be a 'moneybag' and he had mustered confidence of most of the party MLAs. MLAs who were in favour of the aspirant are likely to turn hostile in the elections putting the fate of Vasant Soren at stake.

Meanwhile, the Congress that has 7 MLAs and is supposed to play a key role in the JMM's arduous attempts to reach the magic number of 28 has preferred to withhold its decision sending the JMM to grope in the dark.

In fact, JMM has 19 MLAs, the Congress has 7 MLAs and the Jharkhand Vikas Morcha has 2. Although as the largest party in the opposition camp, the JMM has staked its claim, the seat to be contested belongs to the Congress as the term of its sitting RS member, Deeraj Sahu is about to end. Incidentally, the JPCC President Sukhdeo Bhagat held a party meeting on Monday and came out with the decision to wait for the high-command's nod whether the party should stand by the JMM in the elections.

Similarly, even as the JMM claimed that it had garnered the JVM support, JVM supremo and former Chief Minister of the State, Babulal Marandi has already made it public that he was opposed to dynastic politics expressing implicit displeasure over the nomination of Vasant Soren.

Moreover, the JMM is supposed to leave no stone unturned to win the seat. The party will suffer its third major electoral setback if it loses the RS seat. It had to eat a humble pie in the recent past while contesting the by-poll to the two Assembly seats and that too, in its stronghold of the Santhal Parganas region of the State. The party lost both the seats of Godda and Panki to the BJP and Congress, respectively in the by-elections.

To top it all, the possible abuse in the ensuing polls assumes greater significance in the light of the fact that the CBI probe is still on in the infamous 'cash-for-vote' case in connection with the RS elections in 2010 and 2012 in the State.