BJP wants Prasad Lad to get more than 200 votes in Assembly by-poll

Even if victory is certain, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) wants its Legislative Council candidate Prasad Lad to get more than 200 votes in Thursday's Legislative Council by-polls, in which 288 Assembly members will participate. BJP has set the target after the votes garnered by President Ram Nath Kovind in Maharashtra in July this year. For these by-polls, Lad faces Congress's Dilip Mane, who is also supported by the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).

Prasad Lad. File pic

BJP finalised Lad's nomination when its ruling partner Sena refused to support former Congress member Narayan Rane. Sena readily extended a hand to Lad, who is chief minister Devendra Fadnavis's choice. Sources in BJP said its planning was such that Lad might even exceed votes polled by Kovind. "The opposition does not have enough numbers and yet, they have fielded a candidate. They lost some votes to cross-voting in the presidential elections and we expect the pattern to repeat," said a BJP leader.

BJP (122) and Sena (63) together have 185 votes, more than sufficient for winning. Apart from these, 10 independents and representatives of smaller parties add to the number. According to Rane's assurances, two of his supporters in the Congress would vote for Lad. Since BJP wants to cross the 200-mark, said another BJP leader, CM himself is trying to get a few more votes from the opposition camp.

Cross voting is never ruled out in the council polls. To ensure unity, the two camps got into a huddle on Wednesday evening at separate venues. The BJP-Sena faction and their supporters spent time at a five-star hotel in South Mumbai, while the Congress-NCP one treated their MLAs at the Yeshwantrao Chavan Pratishthan.

185
Number of votes BJP and Shiv Sena have together

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