RJD & CPI-ML attack Congress for saying their MLAs cross-voted

NEW DELHI: Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge has become a sort of penfriend of his allies, but not in a way he would have liked. CPI-ML chief Dipankar Bhattacharya Friday shot off a protest letter to the Congress veteran complaining against the charge by his party that CPI-ML legislators in Jharkhand crossed in favour of BJP-supported independent – an accusation made by Congress state in-charge K Raju.Days earlier, CPM chief MA baby dispatched a missive, slamming the allegation levelled by Congress leadership, including Rahul Gandhi, during Kerala elections that then CM Pinarayi Vijayan was hand in glove with BJP.The pinpricks highlight the internal dissonance among the allies that form the INDIA bloc, raising questions about their ability to coordinate in future over a common agenda to take on BJP. That the skirmishes have intensified after the largely defunct bloc met last week after a gap of over two years, raise serious questions about its future.Interestingly, some of the criticism of Congress has stemmed from the speech Rahul gave at the bloc’s meeting on June 8, and then released it in public after three days. Besides the weaker Left parties, strong regional outfits like RJD and Samajwadi Party also questioned Congress’s political management in the meeting. They also accused Congress of pushing out DMK.The latest provocation is Jharkhand RS election, where Congress candidate as alliance nominee led by JMM lost to BJP-supported candidate, with cross-voting from allies. Much in future would depend on how Congress views the cross-voting – whether it was deliberate or just the rival’s resourcefulness.It is acknowledged that the bloc has become weak with the ouster from power of key regional parties like TMC, DMK. But insiders believe that the threat of BJP that is becoming increasingly belligerent while in office will push all the allies together to work on a common agenda. The only threat that many feel is that Congress may be encouraged to ride roughshod over regional parties on issues and elections, which may further weaken the cohesion.Meanwhile, RJD released a video highlighting an instance of alleged cross-voting by Congress legislators during the RS polls in Bihar despite the two parties being partners. RJD neta Bhola Yadav demanded Congress state minder K Raju’s resignation.