look news india
These days, a huge game of check-mate has started in the politics of Jharkhand regarding two Rajya Sabha seats. As the date of voting on June 18 is approaching, the political temperature of the state is increasing rapidly. The sudden entry of veteran industrialist Parimal Nathwani in a contest which was considered very straight and one-sided till the last day of nominations, has shaken the entire equation. If seen from the point of view of a political reporter, the round of meetings and strategies has become very intense from the administrative corridors of Ranchi to the high command of Delhi. Both the camps—the ruling ‘INDIA’ alliance and the opposition NDA—are trying their best to win, making this election now completely filled with suspense and thrill.
The seats have become vacant due to the death of Shibu Soren and the end of the tenure of Deepak Prakash. These two Rajya Sabha seats of Jharkhand have become vacant under very special circumstances. The first seat became vacant due to the tragic demise of Shibu Soren, a prominent leader of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) and a well-known politician of the country. At the same time, the second seat is falling vacant due to the six-year term of senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and MP Deepak Prakash ending on June 21. To win both these seats, both the big political powers of the state have made such moves that now the value of each vote has become as much as the price of gold.
Parimal Nathwani’s sudden entry gave rise to heartbeats of ‘India’ alliance Till the last day of nomination, it was believed that the ruling party would easily win both the seats, but at the last moment, Parimal Nathwani surprised everyone by filing nomination as an independent candidate. The most interesting thing is that during Nathwani’s nomination, many BJP and NDA MLAs were seen standing with him. Parimal Nathwani has previously represented Jharkhand in the Rajya Sabha and is considered to have deep influence in all the parties. His surprise entry has especially increased the heartbeats of the Congress camp, because now the contest for the second seat has become very tough and triangular.
Why did tension increase between JMM and Congress regarding seat sharing? This election has also brought to the surface the contradictions within the ruling coalition. According to the current strength of the Assembly, JMM has 34 MLAs, on the basis of which their first candidate (Baidyanath Ram) is winning very easily and safely. The real dilemma lies in the second seat, where Congress has fielded Pranab Jha, its senior leader and close to Mallikarjun Kharge. JMM was initially staking claim on both the seats, but after much persuasion, it agreed to give one seat to Congress. Despite this, a section within JMM does not seem completely comfortable with transferring its additional votes to Congress, which can become a big problem for Congress.
What is the numbers game and how can NDA cause a big upheaval? To win a Rajya Sabha seat in the Jharkhand Assembly, a candidate requires a minimum of 28 first preference votes. After JMM takes out 28 votes, they are left with 6 extra votes. Congress does not have enough numbers on its own, so it needs the full support of 4 Rashtriya Janata Original Dal (RJD) and 2 CPI-ML MLAs along with those 6 additional votes of JMM to register victory. On the other hand, the NDA alliance has a total of 24 MLAs, which means they are falling just 4 votes short of the magic figure to win their seats. Political analysts believe that the entire strategy of NDA depends on arranging these 4 votes, wooing independent MLAs and conducting ‘cross voting’ among the disgruntled MLAs of the ruling party.
Emergency meeting of all MLAs called at Chief Minister Hemant Soren’s residence Considering the seriousness of the situation and the danger of internal attack, the ‘India’ alliance has come on full alert mode. The Congress high command has sent former Chief Ministers Bhupesh Baghel and Ajay Sharma to Ranchi as special observers. An important meeting of all 56 MLAs of the alliance has been called at the residence of Chief Minister Hemant Soren, where everyone is being given strict instructions to remain united and follow the whip. The alliance leaders claim that they have complete majority and will win both the seats, but BJP strategists are also in no mood to sit quietly. Now it remains to be seen who becomes the king of this political war in Jharkhand after the ballot boxes open on June 18.