Ranchi (Jharkhand) [India], June 9 (ANI): Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) leader Manoj Pandey on Tuesday lashed out at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for its decision to support independent candidate Parimal Nathwani in the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections, claiming the move exposes the saffron party’s “failure” to find a suitable candidate from its own ranks.
Speaking to ANI, Pandey alleged that the BJP’s backing of Nathwani, who is also a prominent industrialist, is proof that the party could not find a strong candidate for the seat.
“The BJP has not supported an independent; rather, they have supported a capitalist. The BJP made all sorts of claims that they would definitely field a candidate, contest the election, and win, but ultimately, they couldn’t find an official nominee of their own. They couldn’t field any candidate from their party,” the JMM leader said.
On Monday, BJP-supported independent candidate Parimal Nathwani filed his nomination papers for Rajya Sabha polls in Jharkhand and said he will seek votes on the basis of the work he has done.
Nathwani’s candidature has made the Rajya Sabha contest in the state interesting as there are now three candidates for two seats in the state.
The ruling JMM and Congress, which is an ally in the ruling coalition in the state, have fielded a candidate each.
BJP needs some extra votes to get the candidate it is backing through in the polls. Today is the last date of filing nominations for the biennial elections to the Rajya Sabha.
JMM candidate Baidyanath Ram and Congress candidate Pranav Jha have filed their nominations for the Rajya Sabha polls.
Nathwani, a former MP, said he has received support from the people. “Having spent 12 years here, Jharkhand is not new to me. I am hopeful that I will get an opportunity to serve as a Rajya Sabha MP. I will seek votes based on the work I have done; that work is visible to the public and speaks for itself. It would be wrong not to continue with it,” he told reporters.
The biennial Rajya Sabha elections will be held on June 18 for four seats each in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat, three seats each in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, two seats in Jharkhand, and one seat each in Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Manipur and Meghalaya. The last date for filing of nominations is June 8.
Notification was also issued for the Rajya Sabha bypoll for a seat each in Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Odisha. (ANI)
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