How cross-voting in 1998 Rajya Sabha polls led to NCP’s formation

For the last 24 years, political parties in the state had chosen to avoid voting to prevent horse-trading and cross-voting in Rajya Sabha polls

Mumbai: In a first since 1998, the members of the state assembly will vote to elect six members to the Rajya Sabha on Friday. The 1998 election was controversial as Congress’ official candidate lost due to cross-voting by its MLAs. The incident and what happened in Congress after that were among the reasons why Sharad Pawar split and formed the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). Incidentally, voting will be held after 24 years on Friday and the NCP will be celebrating its 24th foundation day on the same day.

The incident and the developments that followed in the Congress were the factors behind Pawar’s decision to form NCP. (Satish Bate/HT PHOTO)

For the last 24 years, political parties in the state had chosen to avoid voting to prevent horse-trading and cross-voting in Rajya Sabha polls and preferred unopposed elections by nominating the candidates based on their actual strength on the floor of the assembly.

After the 1998 controversy due to cross-voting by Congress MLAs, a section in Congress blamed the defeat on Sharad Pawar, who was then in the party and also the opposition leader in Lok Sabha.

The incident and the developments that followed in the Congress were the factors behind Pawar’s decision to form NCP. Similar to the present situation, there were seven candidates in the fray for six seats.

Congress had fielded Najma Heptullah and Ram Pradhan. It could have easily won two seats on the basis of its strength on the floor of the assembly. BJP had fielded senior leader Pramod Mahajan while Shiv Sena had fielded Satish Pradhan and Pritish Nandy. Two independent candidates, Suresh Kalmadi and Vijay Darda were also in the fray.

In the election, Ram Pradhan lost while others, including Kalmadi and Darda, were elected. A section in Congress blamed Pawar who was opposed to Pradhan’s candidature. The party issued show-cause notices to 10 MLAs and Pawar’s close aides, including Praful Patel.

MLAs close to the leader would not get party tickets in the 1999 assembly elections. “There was a power-tussle between Pawar and senior Congress leaders. There were indications that legislators close to Pawar would find it difficult to get party tickets for the next assembly elections. We also suspected that the power tussle between him and the Sonia Gandhi loyalist would intensify with the party top brass looking at him with suspicion. The developments within the party were a major factor behind Pawar’s rebellion against Gandhi’s leadership,” said a leader close to Pawar.