Congress MLAs who cross-voted in Maharashtra MLC polls face action

Mumbai: Congress leader K C Venugopal on Friday said the party has taken action against the MLAs who cross-voted in the biennial elections to 11 seats of the Maharashtra legislative council last week.

"Action has been taken against the MLAs who cross-voted and you will see the result in future. Discipline is very important," Venugopal told reporters after attending a meeting here to review the party's preparations for the upcoming Maharashtra legislative assembly elections and to decide its poll strategies.

He, however, did not specify the number or names of the MLAs who defied the party's directive while voting.

When asked whether the dissenting legislators will be denied in the assembly elections, the AICC general secretary (organisation) said, "You can have your own assumptions."

In the biennial elections to the legislative council held on July 12, seven Congress MLAs cross-voted.

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).

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