The Congress expressed mixed feelings about NCP’s “betrayal”. While some leaders said that it was hard to forgive, some said a future tie-up would be in the larger interest. (Source: Express photo Javed Raja)
Cross-voting by NCP legislators during the recent Rajya Sabha polls in Gujarat that nearly jeopardised Congress leader Ahmed Patel’s chances of winning is likely to affect the seat-sharing talks between the two parties for the forthcoming Assembly polls in the state.
While Congress claimed that it received none of the two NCP votes for Patel, state NCP president and MLA Jayant Patel alias Boskey said that he voted for him and blamed the Congress for the uncertainty about their alliance.
Boskey said that the Congress was refusing to admit that it has received one NCP vote in order to save its face. “I want to know what happened to my vote for Ahmed Patel? I strongly feel that one more Congress MLA has cross-voted. The Congress does not want to make it public as it will further damage their image,” he said.
On his colleague Kandhal Jadeja defying the party mandate and openly pledging support to the BJP, Boskey said, “The party has issued a showcause notice to him. We will decide the course of action soon.”
The Congress expressed mixed feelings about NCP’s “betrayal”. While some leaders said that it was hard to forgive, some said a future tie-up would be in the larger interest.
“It is very unfortunate that the NCP has taken a very contradictory stand during the Rajya Sabha polls… As per my knowledge, none of the two MLAs voted for us…The high command is very unhappy… It was a prestige seat… It seems like a difficult decision (for the tie-up), which will finally be taken by Soniaji and Rahulji,” said former state Congress chief Arjun Modhwadia.
