Take action or…, Congress is confused about the MLA who cross voted in MLC election

Mumbai. Congress, which performed exceptionally well in Maharashtra during the Lok Sabha elections, suffered a setback in the recent elections for 11 members of the Legislative Council (MLC). However, Congress candidate Pragya Satav won comfortably with first preference votes. Despite the clear order of the party, some Congress MLAs cross-voted. Due to cross-voting, Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) candidate Jayant Patil lost. At the same time, the BJP-led Mahayuti got success despite not having enough numbers to get its ninth candidate elected.

This situation mirrors the 2022 election, where Congress’ first preference candidate Chandrakant Handore lost the MLC election. While second preference candidate Bhai Jagtap got additional votes and won. Despite a report being submitted by the state leadership to the Congress high command after the 2022 defeat of the Uddhav Thackeray-led MVA government, no action was taken against those MLAs.

Claims of cross-voting
During the recently held MLC elections, unconfirmed reports had indicated that there could be cross-voting, which could lead to the ruling coalition getting additional votes from the MVA. However, it seems that MVA leaders, especially those from the Congress, ignored the warnings, which led to cross-voting from their camp. The same evening, state Congress chief Nana Patole said that ‘those who cross-voted will not be spared and strict action will be taken against them.’ Those who cross-voted have been identified and action will be taken against them. The state leadership has submitted its report to the Congress high command.

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The responsibility of the decision lies with the high command
When Congress takes disciplinary action against any of its MPs or MLAs, a committee is formed to send notices to the concerned leaders and seek their response. After this, the committee recommends action to the Congress President. There is a discussion within the Maharashtra Congress that the party high command may shy away from taking action on this action. Because amid the positive results of the Lok Sabha elections, it may affect the upcoming state elections. Some MLAs believe that action should be taken after the state elections to prevent these MLAs from switching sides. The state leadership has now put this responsibility on the Congress high command.

Tags: Congress