JMM, Congress fear cross-voting in Rajya Sabha election

With Jharkhand set to elect two Rajya Sabha members, the Congress and the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) fear possible cross-voting instigated by the BJP.

Since there are three candidates for the two seats, including Union Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and Mahesh Poddar from the BJP and Basant Soren of the JMM, each and every vote is going to count.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is still investigating charges of horse-trading in the two previous Rajya Sabha polls.

To win, a candidate requires a minimum of 28 votes.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the AJSU combine have 47 votes. They have also managed to rope in a couple of legislators from the smaller parties.

On the other hand, the JMM has 19 votes, the Congress seven and the JVM-P two. It has managed to get the CPI-ML in its kitty.

If both BJP candidates have to win, it will have to make inroads into the opposition ranks.

To prevent disloyalty, the JMM and Congress are making all out efforts to keep their legislators united.

The JMM has talked about its legislators using the option of open ballot. The Congress is thinking of issuing a whip to its voters. Leaders of both parties say they are cautious.

--IANS

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