A day after the Rajya Sabha election delivered an unexpected setback to the Congress in Jharkhand, public disagreements among constituents of the ruling Mahagathbandhan surfaced on Friday, exposing strains within the alliance.
Nathwani reportedly secured 28 votes, defeating Congress nominee Pranav Jha, who could get just 20 votes despite the INDIA bloc enjoying a comfortable majority in the Assembly.
Voting for two Rajya Sabha seats in Jharkhand began on Thursday with JMM, Congress and BJP-backed independent candidate Parimal Nathwani locked in a keenly watched contest.
Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Wednesday intensified his attack on Union Home Minister Amit Shah, accusing him of spearheading a systematic campaign to weaken Opposition parties by encouraging elected representatives to defect to the Bharatiya Janata Party.
DMK has intensified its attack on Rahul Gandhi, accusing Congress of working against INDIA bloc allies in state elections and blaming his leadership for growing discontent within the opposition alliance.
The perennial star campaigners, stalwarts of both parties including former Chief Ministers Ashok Gehlot and Vasundhara Raje, their contemporaries and ministerial colleagues of late Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, besides Gehlot and Raje either were not visible at all or showed up themselves only once or twice.
During this, Delhi Congress president, Devender Yadav, along with thousands of party workers visited Gauri Shankar Mandir, Sis Ganj Gurdwara, Jain Temple and the Central Baptist Church, located in the Chandni Chowk.
"BJP gives inciting speeches and speaks lies in order to divert people's attention from core issues," he alleged at a press conference in Nagpur.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday launched a blistering attack on the Congress and the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) for what he called the conspiracy hatched by the state government to allow cross-border infiltration for vote bank politics.
Congress leaders in the city have been protesting and observing hunger strikes for the past four days after a statue of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru was found in a garbage heap.
