By AMIT KUMAR
The numbers were stacked against him, but BJP-backed independent candidate Parimal Nathwani pulled off a surprise victory in the Jharkhand Rajya Sabha election. The result raises fresh questions about unity within the ruling INDIA bloc and the Congress’s ability to keep its flock together.
Ranchi, June 18, 2026 — Parimal Nathwani, the BJP-backed independent candidate, won the Rajya Sabha elections from Jharkhand on Thursday. In a major setback to the INDIA bloc, Nathwani polled seven additional votes to win the election. The Congress candidate Pranav Jha lost the election on account of cracks in the ruling JMM-Congress-RJD alliance in Jharkhand.
Nathwani polled 30 votes, while two were declared invalid. Incidentally, the BJP has only 21 MLAs. That suggests that Nathwani was able to fetch seven additional votes from the ruling alliance and independents.
Baidyanath Ram of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) won the second Rajya Sabha seat from the state. The BJP had forced an election after announcing support for Nathwani. Nishikant Dubey, the BJP’s Lok Sabha MP from Godda, wrote on X that Nathwani got 28 votes to win the Rajya Sabha elections. Nathwani is known to have been a key functionary of the Reliance Industries.
The JMM has 34 MLAs in Jharkhand. The Congress is the second largest alliance partner with 16 MLAs. The RJD has four MLAs, followed by two legislators of the CPI (ML). Together, the ruling alliance in Jharkhand has a strength of 56 MLAs.
While the BJP has 21 MLAs in the state, the JD (U), AJSU and LJP have one legislator each. Thus, the NDA has a total strength of 24 MLAs. The JLKM has also one MLA. Nathwani by polling appears to have got four additional votes, most likely from the ruling alliance in the state.
Political observers said that the defeat of the Congress candidate will be seen as a major setback for the Opposition unity. Besides, the BJP has once more asserted that the party can force an election in Rajya Sabha elections even while lacking the numerical strength.
Earlier, the BJP won three Rajya Sabha seats from Madhya Pradesh after the nomination papers of the Congress candidate Meenakshi Natrajan were rejected by the returning officer in the state.
Since the BJP announced support for Nathwani, the buzz in Ranchi was about the unity test in the ruling alliance. But cracks in the alliance show that the Congress still faces roadblock in measuring up to the challenge posed by the BJP.
Nathwani had earlier also been a Rajya Sabha MP. His attendance in the upper house of parliament is known to be abysmal.
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