Despite the big claims of the Sharad Pawar-led NCP, MVA fails to secure any MLAs from the other side. Congress promises action as six cross-votes.
The opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), which was buoyant following its triumph in the most recent Lok Sabha polls in Maharashtra, has suffered a setback with the victory of all nine candidates filed by the ruling Mahayuti alliance in the Legislative Council elections, which were held for 11 seats on Friday.
While officials of the Sharad-Pawar led NCP group claimed that legislators from the Ajit Pawar camp were leaning towards them, it is believed that six Congress MLAs crossed over to vote in favor of the ruling alliance.
The Ajit-led NCP will greatly benefit from this, as it was trailing behind the other six major parties in the Lok Sabha elections, winning only one of the four seats it ran for.
Chief Minister Eknath Shinde established his authority over the Shiv Sena lawmakers on his side if Ajit demonstrated his control over the NCP MLAs alongside him.
Strangely, the Congress, which had the most cause for celebration following the Lok Sabha results—gaining more seats (13) than the BJP (9—suffered the worst setback on Friday.
The BJP fielded five candidates, and with the backing of Independents, it was able to field 111 MLAs. With the assistance of two Prahar Janashakti Party members and seven Independents, the Shinde Sena now has 47 MLAs, including the chief minister. It received two additional votes since two of its candidates prevailed. With 39 MLAs, Ajit’s NCP has three Independents in its corner. The party received five extra votes since two of its candidates prevailed.
Also Read | Mahayuti surpasses MVA as Cong MLAs cross-vote; Tilekar and Gorkhe of Pune win.
Smaller parties like the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (1), Rashtriya Samaj Party (1), Independents, and even the Samajwadi Party (2 MLAs) and AIMIM (2) appear to have supported the ruling alliance as well, based on the statistics.
Party Maharashtra leader Nana Patole acknowledged that six Congress MLAs had cast ballots for the opposition party, saying, “We have identified the six MLAs who cross-voted despite a whip.” Discipline actions will be conducted against everyone, and a thorough report will be forwarded to the party high command.” According to Patole, the Congress would not wait for a committee to make a decision before acting.
The fact that four of the Congress’s 37 MLAs are rumored to have been in contact with the Ajit-led NCP is much more concerning to the party. Sources claim that the two other MLAs who seem to have cast cross-party votes are intimately linked to Ashok Chavan, the former chief minister of the Congress who is currently a BJP MP in the Rajya Sabha.
The results of the Legislative Council poll, aside from the Congress, represent a defeat for the NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar). By fielding a third candidate from the MVA side, Sharad Pawar forced a contest for the 11 seats up for grabs, which was perceived as an attempt to strike his nephew Ajit another blow. Only two could be elected by the MVA, therefore they nominated a third candidate, Jayant Patil of the Peasants and Workers Party, who was supported by the NCP (SP). Riding high on its victory in eight of the ten Lok Sabha seats it ran for, the latter had been bragging that up to eighteen MLAs from the Ajit faction were in contact with the party.
Ultimately, it appears that not a single MLA supported Ajit by cross-voting.
