CPI(ML) Liberation General Secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya. File

| Photo Credit: ANI

A day after the Rajya Sabha election in Jharkhand, CPI(ML) Liberation General Secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya on Friday (June 19, 2026) wrote to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, expressing "strong protest" against the allegations of cross-voting levelled against his party MLAs.After the results were declared on Thursday (June 18, 2026), Jharkhand Congress in-charge K. Raju had blamed Rashtriya Janata Dal and CPI (ML) Liberation for the Congress candidate’s defeat in the Rajya Sabha polls claiming that the two parties did not vote for him.BJP-backed Independent candidate Parimal Nathwani won one of the two Rajya Sabha seats in Jharkhand, defeating Pranav Jha of the Congress. Baidyanath Ram of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha was elected to the other seat.In his letter, Mr. Bhattacharaya said that such “unverified and unwarranted” allegations against allies undermine mutual trust among parties of the INDIA bloc. He said that CPI(ML) Liberation has been one of the most committed constituents of the alliance bloc since its formation."We are shocked to see the Congress blaming our MLAs for the defeat of its nominee Pranav Jha in the Rajya Sabha election from Jharkhand on June 18," Mr. Bhattacharya said in the letter."This is a malicious lie. Both our MLAs voted for Mr. Jha as planned in the meeting of opposition MLAs. Our polling agents duly verified the votes before the ballots were cast," he said.Expressing "strong protest", he called it "wholly unfounded and malicious propaganda against our MLAs and an attempt to tarnish our party's image"."In election after election, our MLAs in Bihar and Jharkhand have voted for opposition candidates in the Rajya Sabha. As you know, our party has been one of the most committed constituents of the INDIA bloc since its formation," he said."We call upon you to ask Congress leaders to stop making unverified and unwarranted allegations against allies that undermine mutual trust among parties of the INDIA bloc," Mr. Bhattacharya added.CPI(ML) Liberation on Thursday (June 18, 2026) asserted that the party's two MLAs voted for the Congress candidate in the election, rejecting Congress's allegations of cross-voting. The party also accused the Congress of failing to secure the support of all of its own MLAs.The ruling INDIA bloc has 56 members in the 81-member Jharkhand Assembly, while the BJP-led NDA has 24 MLAs.With PTI inputs Published - June 19, 2026 03:48 pm IST