Seven Congress MLAs cross-voted in Council polls, results indicate

Mumbai: At least seven Congress MLAs defied the party's directive while voting in Friday's biennial elections to 11 seats of the Maharashtra Legislative Council, results showed.

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), party sources said.

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

The ruling Mahayuti alliance of the BJP, Shiv Sena and NCP won all the nine seats it contested, while Jayant Patil of the Peasants and Workers' Party (PWP), supported by Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SP), lost.