MUMBAI: Eight Congress MLAs cross-voted in the recent Maharashtra state legislative council elections, the one-member committee comprising Mohan Prakash set up by Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi has said in its report. However, no harsh action has been recommended against these MLAs for violating party order.
After the defeat of Congress candidate Chandrakant Handore in the MLC elections, Sonia had asked senior Congress leader Mohan Prakash to probe the reasons behind Handore’s defeat and submit a detailed report to her. Prakash visited Mumbai and met prominent leaders of Congress as well as MLAs for conducting the probe.
The report has revealed that in the MLC elections, BJP and its allies had 113 votes, but they got 20 additional votes, including those of Congress MLAs. “Six Congress MLAs voted for BJP while two Congress MLAs voted for NCP candidates in the MLC elections. The Congress MLAs have been identified by using various methods, such as personal and confidential interviews with them,” a source privy of these details said.
“These MLAs were given specific codes and markings but in the voting paper, these were missing. However, it cannot be 100 percent correct because the voting is confidential and small errors in judgement can spoil anyone’s political career. Therefore, no harsh action has been recommended in the report,” the source added.
Party leaders also feel that this is not the right time to take action against those who cross-voted. “The Congress is going through a very difficult phase. People are leaving the party, and it is an uphill task to keep the flock together. In such a scenario, we cannot expel the MLAs just based on suspicion and some elementary proof. Therefore, it was decided to push this issue under the carpet for the time being. Once the situation is favourable, the party high command may take action,” a Congress leader said.
When contacted over the phone, Mohan Prakash confirmed that he has submitted the report to Sonia. “I have written about the current situation of the party and cross-voting. However, the party high command has to take a call over it,” he said.
Former Maharashtra Congress president Prithviraj Chavan had alleged that eight Congress MLAs cross-voted in favour of the BJP in lieu of bribes. After this, state Congress legislative party leader Balasaheb Thorat held a meeting with party MLAs to ensure that such an act is not repeated in future. Such a scenario, we cannot expel the MLAs just based on suspicion and some elementary proof. Therefore, it was decided to push this issue under the carpet for the time being,” a leader said. When contacted over the phone, Mohan Prakash confirmed that he has submitted the report to Sonia.