Prithviraj Chavan seeks action against Cong MLAs who cross-voted in Maha Council polls

Senior Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan on Wednesday demanded action against seven party MLAs in Maharashtra who cross-voted during the last month's legislative council elections, leading to an embarrassing defeat of a party candidate.

Congress party's second nominee Chandrakant Handore, a former minister and Dalit leader, lost the June 20 biennial elections to the Upper House of the state legislature.

''I have demanded that the party take action against seven MLAs who voted for the BJP resulting in the defeat of Handore,'' the former Maharashtra CM told PTI.

On the issue of Congress legislators remaining absent during the July 4 trust vote moved in the Assembly by the newly-elected Eknath Shinde-led government, Chavan said it was his personal opinion that the party should seek an explanation from them.

''But I haven't demanded action against them (Congress MLAs who did not take part in trust vote), '' the former Union minister said.

About 10 Congress MLAs, including former CM Ashok Chavan, were not present in the Assembly during the trust vote which was easily won by the Shinde government.

The Congress was a part of the erstwhile Shiv Sena-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government.