Mumbai, amid threat of cross-voting, voting for the biennial elections for 11 seats in the Maharashtra Legislative Council concluded at the Vidhan Bhavan Complex on Friday afternoon.
Voting took place between 9 am and 4 pm, officials said. The votes will begin for counting from 5:00 p.m. and the results are expected in the afternoon, they said.
There are 12 candidates running for the 11 seats in the upper house of the state legislature, where the current 274 members of the legislative assembly form the electoral college.
According to officials, all 274 MLAs cast their votes. Shiv Sena's Sanjay Gaikwad was the first to cast his vote through the secret ballot system.
Biennial elections are held to fill vacancies of members whose term ends on July 27. Each winning candidate would need a quota of 23 first preference votes.
In the morning, Shiv Sena (UBT) said it would request the state election official to extend voting hours by an hour due to heavy rain in Mumbai.
As the voting progressed, the Congress wrote to the returning officer, urging that BJP MLA Ganpat Gaikwad not be allowed to cast his vote.
Gaikwad, who represents Kalyan East assembly constituency, was arrested in February for allegedly opening fire on a Shiv Sena functionary inside a police station in Ulhasnagar in Thane district over a land dispute.
The Congress said since Gaikwad is in judicial custody, he cannot vote under Section 62 (5) of the Representation of People Act, 1951.
Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut said allowing the BJP legislator to vote in the council elections would amount to abuse of power.
“Gaikwad can come out of jail to vote, but Anil Deshmukh and Nawab Malik were also in jail (during the 2022 council elections) and were not allowed to vote. This is use or misuse of power,” he stated.
The BJP is the largest party in the assembly with 103 members, followed by Shiv Sena (38), NCP (42), Congress (37), Shiv Sena (UBT) 15 and NCP (SP) 10.
The BJP has fielded five candidates and its ally Shiv Sena, two. Its partner Mahayuti, NCP, has nominated two candidates.
From the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) bloc, the Shiv Sena (UBT) and the Congress have fielded one candidate each, while the NCP (SP) is backing the PWP candidate Jayant Patil.
The MVA does not have numbers on its side to elect the third candidate, but is confident that some NCP and Shiv Sena MLAs will vote in its favour.
In recent days, the NCP (SP) has claimed that some MLAs from the rival Ajit Pawar-led camp are in touch with the opposition party for a possible comeback after the MVA's impressive performance in the Lok Sabha polls.
Voting took place between 9 am and 4 pm, officials said. The votes will begin for counting from 5:00 p.m. and the results are expected in the afternoon, they said.
There are 12 candidates running for the 11 seats in the upper house of the state legislature, where the current 274 members of the legislative assembly form the electoral college.
According to officials, all 274 MLAs cast their votes. Shiv Sena's Sanjay Gaikwad was the first to cast his vote through the secret ballot system.
Biennial elections are held to fill vacancies of members whose term ends on July 27. Each winning candidate would need a quota of 23 first preference votes.
In the morning, Shiv Sena (UBT) said it would request the state election official to extend voting hours by an hour due to heavy rain in Mumbai.
As the voting progressed, the Congress wrote to the returning officer, urging that BJP MLA Ganpat Gaikwad not be allowed to cast his vote.
Gaikwad, who represents Kalyan East assembly constituency, was arrested in February for allegedly opening fire on a Shiv Sena functionary inside a police station in Ulhasnagar in Thane district over a land dispute.
The Congress said since Gaikwad is in judicial custody, he cannot vote under Section 62 (5) of the Representation of People Act, 1951.
Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut said allowing the BJP legislator to vote in the council elections would amount to abuse of power.
“Gaikwad can come out of jail to vote, but Anil Deshmukh and Nawab Malik were also in jail (during the 2022 council elections) and were not allowed to vote. This is use or misuse of power,” he stated.
The BJP is the largest party in the assembly with 103 members, followed by Shiv Sena (38), NCP (42), Congress (37), Shiv Sena (UBT) 15 and NCP (SP) 10.
The BJP has fielded five candidates and its ally Shiv Sena, two. Its partner Mahayuti, NCP, has nominated two candidates.
From the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) bloc, the Shiv Sena (UBT) and the Congress have fielded one candidate each, while the NCP (SP) is backing the PWP candidate Jayant Patil.
The MVA does not have numbers on its side to elect the third candidate, but is confident that some NCP and Shiv Sena MLAs will vote in its favour.
In recent days, the NCP (SP) has claimed that some MLAs from the rival Ajit Pawar-led camp are in touch with the opposition party for a possible comeback after the MVA's impressive performance in the Lok Sabha polls.
