7 Cong MLAs crossvote in Maha as Team Shinde sails through

In a morale-boosting victory for the 'Mahayuti' in Maharashtra ahead of assembly polls, the ruling alliance on Friday won all the nine seats it contested in the biennial elections to 11 legislative council seats, but the opposition MVA faced a setback as a candidate backed by Sharad Pawar's party lost.

In the results announced in the evening for the high-stakes polls held earlier in the day, where 12 candidates were in the fray for 11 seats, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won five seats, while Chief Minister Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and the Ajit Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) bagged two each.

All three parties are constituents of the ruling Mahayuti (grand alliance) which performed poorly in the recent Lok Sabha polls, winning just 17 seats out of the total 48 in Maharashtra.

From the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), Milind Narvekar, a close aide of Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray, and Congress candidate Pradnya Satav won the elections.

However, Peasants and Workers' Party (PWP) candidate Jayant Patil, who was supported by Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (SP), lost the polls, dealing a blow to the MVA.

The Shiv Sena (UBT), the Congress, the NCP (SP) and some smaller parties are members of the MVA, which had put up an impressive show in the Lok Sabha elections, winning 30 seats.

However, Peasants and Workers' Party (PWP) candidate Jayant Patil, who was supported by Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (SP), lost the polls, dealing a blow to the MVA which had put up an impressive show in the Lok Sabha elections, winning 30 seats.

The election was necessitated as 11 members of the legislative council (MLCs) are completing their six-year term on July 27.

The 288-member legislative assembly was the electoral college for the polls and its current strength is 274. Each winning candidate required a quota of 23 first-preference votes.

The BJP is the largest party in the assembly with 103 members, followed by the Shiv Sena (38), NCP (42), Congress (37), Shiv Sena (UBT) 15 and NCP (SP) 10.

The BJP had fielded five candidates -- former Maharashtra minister Pankaja Munde, Yogesh Tilekar, Parinay Phuke, Amit Gorkhe and Sadabhau Khot -- and its ally Shiv Sena two -- former Lok Sabha MPs Krupal Tumane and Bhavana Gawali. The NCP had given tickets to Shivajirao Garje and Rajesh Vitekar.

The Congress had nominated Satav for another term, while Sena (UBT) had fielded Narvekar.

The third MVA constituent, NCP (SP), did not field its nominee and instead extended support to PWP's Jayant Patil.

At least seven Congress MLAs defied the party's whip while voting in the council elections, results showed.

The Congress, which has 37 MLAs, had fixed a quota of 30 first preference votes for its candidate  Satav, and seven remaining votes were to go to its ally Sena (UBT)'s nominee Narvekar, party sources said.

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

Chief Minister Eknath Shinde said the victory of all nine Mahayuti candidates in the council polls was a trailer ahead of the assembly polls due in October.

Talking to reporters, Shinde said a false narrative was set by the opposition in the Lok Sabha polls and people were misled.

"Mahayuti has registered a big win. This is a good start. A false narrative (that the Constitution will be changed by the BJP) was set. People were misled. Mahayuti's victory (in the legislative council polls) is a trailer," he said.

Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said the opposition was claiming a candidate of the ruling alliance would lose but the results showed the Mahayuti got votes of not just its constituents but even from MVA legislators.

Another deputy chief minister, Ajit Pawar, said he, Fadnavis and Shinde held multiple meetings to ensure better coordination and responsibilities were shared, which led to the victory of Mahayuti candidates.

Ajit Pawar, whose party could win just one Lok Sabha seat, maintained Mahayuti will work unitedly to ensure victory of the alliance in the upcoming assembly polls.

NCP candidates Shivajirao Garje and Rajesh Vitekar won despite the Ajit Pawar-led party falling short of votes.

"We (NCP) had 42 votes but MLAs gave more votes to Vitekar and Garje. There were rumours that there will be a split (in the NCP and some of its MLAs could cross vote)," Ajit Pawar said. 

BJP candidates Pankaja Munde, Yogesh Tilekar, Parinay Phuke and Amit Gorkhe got 26 first preference votes, and were elected in the first round. Its fifth candidate Sadabhau Khot got 14 votes in the first round and was elected in the second preference voting after he fulfilled the required quota of 23.

NCP's Garje and Vitekar were elected in the first round, getting 23 and 24 votes.

Similarly, Shiv Sena's Bhavana Gawli got 24 and Krupal Tumane 25 votes, and were elected in the first round.

On the Opposition's side, Pradnya Satav of Congress got 25 first preference votes and was elected in the first round. But Sena (UBT')s Milind Narvekar won 22 votes in the first preference voting and was elected in the second round after getting two additional votes.

Jayant Patil of PWP got only 12 votes.