The BJP and the ruling JMM bagged a seat each in the Rajya Sabha elections held on Friday amid Corona fears scuttling the chances of the Congress, which pinned its hope till the last minute on pulling off a miracle of sorts.

JMM chief Shibu Soren and BJP’s Deepak Prakash sailed through smoothly getting 31 and 30 votes respectively. The Congress’ Shahzada Anwar, who wanted to spoil the BJP’s chances, had to be satisfied with just 18 votes, 17 of them from the party fold.

This is the second time that JMM patriarch and the grand old man of Jharkhand politics will be joining the upper House in his 50-year-long political career. Soren had been elected to the Rajya Sabha in 2002.

Almost all MLAs, except Independent legislator Saryu Roy, wearing masks and face shields and adhering to other Covid safety protocols cast their votes till 2 pm. Roy, who had already declared support for the BJP candidate, was the last one to exercise his franchise.

The Assembly had set up two booths, one for MLAs without any Covid-like symptoms, and another for those with symptoms.

Soren, Congress candidate Shahzada Anwar and BJP's Deepak Prakash were in the fray after the Election Commission issued the notificationsfor the two Rajya Sabha seats. The election was scheduled to be held on March 26 but was postponed due to the coronavirus-induced lockdown.

A candidate required 27 votes to get elected as two seats are lying vacant in the 82-member state Assembly. The nominated Anglo-Indian MLA has no voting right.

Chief minister Hemant Soren vacated the Dumka seat while retaining Barhait. The Bermo seat fell vacant after senior Congress MLA Rajendra Prasad Singh died last month.

The JMM has 29 MLAs, BJP 26, including Babulal Marandi, Congress 17, including Pradeep Yadav and Bandhu Tirkey, AJSU Party 2, CPI (ML) 1, NCP 1, RJD 1 and Independents 2.

JMM patriarch Shibu Soren flashes the victory sign after his victory in the Rajya Sabah elections in Ranchi on Friday. Manob Chowdhury

Although both the camps exuded confidence till counting was completed, the body language of Congress MLAs said it all. In the end, the results were on expected lines.

Soren’s victory was never in doubt, given the JMM’s strength of 29 MLAs in the 82-member House, two more than the required number. But what baffled everyone was how the Congress with all 17 votes of the ruling combine in its kitty and two surplus votes from the JMM could field a candidate.

The BJP had taken great precautions to plug all gaps and ensure Deepak’s win. It had secured the support of its estranged ally, AJSU Party, with two MLAs, that had parted ways during the Assembly elections.

It also wooed Saryu Roy, who had fought against then chief minister Raghubar Das in the Assembly polls, and enlisted the support of another Independent and BJP man Amit Yadav.

AJSU chief Sudesh Mahto, whom chief minister Hemant Soren had met to seek support for his father, said after casting his vote that it was not a question of conscience. “We cast our votes as per the party decision,” he said, and added that the issue of strengthening the NDA was on the table.

The BJP had called all its MLAs two days before the election and lodged them together in the fortified campus of Sarla Birla University and kept them engaged with cricket and yoga. The ruling combine had raised objections and even shot off a letter to the Election Commission.

The district administration also issued a notice to the university administration for violating lockdown norms, forcing the BJP to vacate the hostel on Thursday evening.

BJP national general secretary Arun Singh said the party was confident of its win from the beginning. He said the ruling party played dirty tricks by making the administration send a notice to Sarla Birla University where the BJP MLAs were lodged. “The MLAs were lodged there for a meeting where they played cricket and did yoga in order to boost immunity in times of corona. The MLAs had to leave the university hostel after the notice was served by the administration. This tactic, however, did not work,” he added.

BJP vice president and Jharkhand in-charge Om Mathur said that the party strategy was successful. “It was the strategy of our entire organisation,” he added.

An elated Union tribal affairs minister Arjun Munda, who was also present in the Assembly premises, took a jibe at the Congress bid, saying, the party was in a fool’s paradise. “It did not see writing on the wall and created unnecessary suspense in the polls,” he said.

Nevertheless, this Rajya Sabha election will be known for being “clean” as the ruling combine did not resort to any under-hand deals by offering inducements to win.

There were apprehensions that the Speaker may act against Babulal Marandi under the anti-defection law, given that the BJP’s petition to declare Marandi the leader of Opposition is pending with him.

The results of the 2016 Rajya Sabha polls was marred by cross-voting and arm-twisting by the party in power, forcing the Election Commission to order an FIR against Anurag Gupta, then ADGP (Special Branch) and Ajay Kumar, Press advisor to then chief minister Raghubar Das. The case is still under investigation.