Maharashtra Legislative Council elections: 7 Congress MLAs cross-voted in polls, results indicate

Representational Pic/File

As many as seven Congress MLAs defied the party's directive while voting in Friday's biennial elections to 11 seats of the Maharashtra Legislative Council, results showed, reported the PTI.

Congress, which has 37 MLAs, had fixed a quota of 30 first preference votes for its candidate Pradyna Satav, and seven remaining votes were to go to Milind Narvekar, candidate of the ally Shiv Sena (UBT), party sources said, according to the PTI.

IN PHOTOS: MLAs at Vidhan Bhavan in Mumbai during Maharashtra Legislative Council elections

5 months agoPHOTO GALLERY

Eventually, Satav got 25 and Narvekar 22 first preference votes, which meant at least seven Congress MLAs cross-voted.

The ruling Mahayuti alliance of the BJP, Shiv Sena and NCP won all the nine seats it contested, while Jayant Patil of the Peasants and Workers' Party (PWP), supported by Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SP), lost.

Congress now history, BJP-led NDA future of India: CM Shinde

Meanwhile, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Friday said that the BJP-led NDA alliance at the Centre and the ruling 'Mahayuti' coalition were the future of the country and Maharashtra, respectively, while the Congress was history, reported the PTI.

Speaking in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly on the last day of the monsoon session, CM Shinde criticised the Congress for celebrating its third loss in a row in the recent Lok Sabha elections 2024, ignoring the fact that PM Modi has assumed office for a fresh five-year term.

"It (Congress) could not win even 100 Lok Sabha seats (out of 543), but was celebrating, while Narendra Modi has become PM for a third consecutive time," pointed out the CM, who heads the Shiv Sena, an ally of the BJP, according to the PTI.

CM Eknath Shinde maintained the opposition led by the Congress came together for the Lok Sabha elections 2024 under the banner of INDIA bloc, but couldn't stop Modi from becoming PM again.

He said PM Modi was fully supportive of Maharashtra's development agenda.

"Not a single penny was deducted from our development funds," the CM told the lower house which is having its last session before the assembly polls which are due in October, as per the PTI.

Referring to his June 2022 revolt against the then-Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, Shinde said two years ago, he took a daring decision to quit the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) dispensation and install a government of people's choice.

"We have taken decisions for the welfare of people," he said, referring to his two years in office.

(with PTI inputs)