Six Maharashtra MLAs cross voted in MLC polls: Congress internal review

During the legislative council polls on June 20, state’s former minister and Dalit leader Chandrakant Handore lost allegedly due to cross-voting by Congress legislators, causing a major embarrassment to the party.

At least six Congress legislators cross-voted in the Maharashtra legislative council elections in June, an internal review conducted by the party has reportedly estimated.

It was estimated that one legislator from north Maharashtra, two to three MLAs from Marathwada and two from Mumbai might have cross-voted, said a senior leader of the Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC). (Agencies/Representative use)

During the legislative council polls on June 20, state’s former minister and Dalit leader Chandrakant Handore lost allegedly due to cross-voting by Congress legislators, causing a major embarrassment to the party.

It was estimated that one legislator from north Maharashtra, two to three MLAs from Marathwada and two from Mumbai might have cross-voted, said a senior leader of the Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC).

“Since the voting was through the secret ballot system, it is difficult to get the names with any certainty,” the leader said, requesting anonymity. He, however, added that disciplinary action could be initiated by the party against some offenders.

Confirming that the report has been submitted to the party leadership, a second senior Congress leader said that since it was a “confidential report”, its contents have not been disclosed to party functionaries.

Handore, a former minister for social welfare, had a quota of 29 first preference votes, but he could secure only 22 of them. On the other hand, Mumbai Congress president Bhai Jagtap, who was the party’s second candidate and was expected to be in the fight for the 10th seat against Prasad Lad of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), got 20 votes, instead of his expected quota of 15, leading to speculations that some votes meant for Handore had shifted to Jagtap.

Soon after the elections, Handore met former Congress president Rahul Gandhi in New Delhi. “Action must be taken against such indiscipline,” he had said.

On July 4, during the trust vote against the state government led by Eknath Shinde and Devendra Fadnavis, 12 of the 44 Congress legislators were either absent or reached the Assembly late.

Senior Congress leader Mohan Prakash was tasked with examining the reasons for the loss in the council polls and the abstention of 12 legislators during the floor test.