Mumbai:
Four candidates of Maharashtra’s Maha Vikas Aghadi and five candidates of the BJP got elected to the Legislative Council amid cross-voting by Congress members. The result of one seat, for which two Congress candidates are contesting, is yet to be announced.
The fight for the 10th seat is a matter of prestige as the state’s ruling alliance saw a defeat in the recently held Rajya Sabha election, where the Shiv Sena candidate was defeated.
In the results declared already, Shiv Sena candidates Sachin Ahir and Amshya Padvi won. Eknath Khadse and Ramraje Nimbalkar from Sharad Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party secured victory. BJP’s Shrikant Bharti, Praveen Darekar, Uma Khapre and Ram Shinde won too.
The results of Congress candidates Chandrakant Handore and Bhai Jagtap are yet to be declared. The fate of BJP’s Prasad Lad remains unknown as well. Of these three candidates, only two will make it to Legislative Council.
Sources said 44 Congress MLAs are present in the assembly, but the results suggest that only 41 MLAs have voted for the Congress in first preference. Three Congress MLAs have cross-voted. The results are yet to come.
All in all, 11 candidates were in the race for 10 seats in the Legislative Council, with MVA allies Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress fielding two candidates each. The BJP nominated five candidates.
While nine candidates were assured of a victory because of the parties’ strength in the state assembly, the main contest was between Congress’s Mumbai President Bhai Jagtap and BJP’s Prasad Lad.
Each candidate needed the support of at least 26 MLAs to win, and the 29 MLAs of smaller parties or independents will play a crucial role in the elections.
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