Hit by cross-voting in Council polls, absenteeism during trust vote, Congress orders probe under Mohan Prakash

The Congress on Friday appointed senior leader Mohan Prakash to conduct an inquiry into the recent political developments in Maharashtra, where the party saw cross-voting by seven of its MLAs in the Legislative Council elections, while nearly a dozen legislators were absent during a trust vote in the Assembly which was won by the Eknath Shinde government.

An All India Congress Committee (AICC) statement did not specifically mention about the cross-voting or absenteeism, but said Prakash, a former general secretary in-charge of Maharashtra, will submit a report to party president Sonia Gandhi.

The announcement comes in the wake of state party leaders holding meetings with the central leadership and demanding a probe into the cross-voting by seven Congress MLAs in the June 20 Legislative Council elections. The cross-voting had led to the defeat of Congress candidate Chandrakant Handore, a former minister and Dalit leader.


Similarly, 11 Congress MLAs, including some former ministers, were absent during voting on the motion of confidence moved in the Assembly on July 4 which was comfortably won by the Shinde-led government which is being supported by the BJP.

The Congress, which has 44 MLAs in the state, was a part of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government which collapsed in June-end following a revolt by a section of Shiv Sena MLAs led by Shinde.