The total votes cast revealed that 13 opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) MLAs cross-voted, including seven from Congress.
Maharashtra Congress President Nana Patole has said that party leaders who cross-voted for the BJP-led Mahayuti candidate in the recent elections to 11 legislative council seats have been identified. Calling them “traitors”, Patole said that the same leaders were behind Congress leader Chandrakant Handore’s defeat in the council elections two years ago.
In the biennial Maharashtra council elections, 13 Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) MLAs cross-voted for the Mahayuti.
“A trap was laid this time and they have been identified. They will be punished so that no one dares to betray the party again,” Patole declared, though he did not disclose their names.
Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut slammed the Centre as it plans to observe the imposition of Emergency as “Samvidhaan Hatya Diwas”.
“Isn’t it unconstitutional to get MLCs elected by MLAs who are facing disqualification? Isn’t it unconstitutional to purchase MLAs by bribing them? BJP is the real murderer of the Constitution,” the Sena leader alleged.
The opposition MVA intends to publish the names of the 13 MLAs who cross-voted, according to reports. This mirrors former CM Uddhav Thackeray’s move against CM Eknath Shinde when Shinde toppled the Uddhav government with BJP support.
The ruling Mahayuti in Maharashtra, including the Shiv Sena led by CM Eknath Shinde, the BJP, and Ajit Pawar’s NCP, won all nine seats it contested. The MVA suffered a setback, with Shiv Sena (UBT) and Congress winning one each, and the Sharad Pawar-led NCP-supported Peasant Workers Party (PWP) candidate Jayant Patil losing despite having enough votes.
At least seven Congress MLAs cross-voted. The Congress, which has 37 MLAs, had allocated 30 first preference votes for its candidate Pradyna Satav, with the remaining seven votes going to Milind Narvekar, the Shiv Sena (UBT) candidate. Satav received 25 and Narvekar 22 first preference votes, indicating at least seven Congress MLAs cross-voted.
In the council elections, MLCs are elected according to each party’s strength in the assembly. The average quota to secure an MLC seat was 23 votes. If a candidate does not meet this number, second preference votes are counted.
The total votes cast revealed that 13 opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) MLAs cross-voted, including seven from Congress, two from the Sharad Pawar-led NCP, one from the Samajwadi Party, two from MIM, and one from the Peasant Workers Party (PWP).
Patole said that the cross-voting MLAs have been identified, and a report has been submitted to the party president recommending the dismissal of these “traitor” MLAs.
“In this election, four Congress MLAs voted against the party, but that was expected. We were surprised by the other three names. Some of them are close to former CM Ashok Chavan, who left Congress to join the BJP before the Lok Sabha elections,” a senior Congress leader disclosed.
He further revealed, “We discovered that two suspect MLAs received funds from the ruling party and were assured that criminal cases against them would be dropped. The party will not spare any such traitors.”
Identifying the cross-voters was challenging, but he assured, “We have scanned all ballot papers, and soon these traitors’ names will be made public.”
Sanjay Raut claimed that the seven Congress MLAs who cross-voted on Friday were the same ones who did so in 2022. “These 7 Congress votes have not been with Congress for the last two years. They are only together on paper. The going rate for MLAs’ votes was between Rs 20 to Rs 25 crore. Some MLAs were given two acres of land,” Raut alleged.
Leader of Opposition Vijay Wadettiwar said the party contested the legislative council elections to identify these disloyal MLAs. Now, the party can clean out the disloyal elements before the assembly polls,” he said.
