Mumbai:

In a worrying sign for the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi in Maharashtra, which was riding high after winning 30 of 48 Lok Sabha seats in the state, at least seven Congress MLAs cross-voted for candidates from the ruling Mahayuti alliance in the Legislative Council polls on Friday, sources said. 

The polls, which are generally a straightforward affair, were seen as the semi-finals ahead of the Maharashtra Assembly elections – expected to be held around November – because 12 candidates were vying for 11 seats. 

The opposition alliance had forced the election by fielding one more candidate than it had the numbers to elect, possibly hoping to benefit from cross-voting by MLAs from the ruling coalition, but seems to have ended up losing votes instead.

The Maharashtra Assembly has a strength of 288 MLAs but currently has 274 sitting legislators. This meant that each MLC candidate needed 23 first-preference votes to win.

The Mahayuti – part of the larger NDA alliance – which consists of the BJP, the Eknath Shinde faction of the Shiv Sena and the Ajit Pawar wing of the NCP, fielded nine candidates and had 201 MLAs, including Independents and smaller parties, backing it. 

The Maha Vikas Aghadi, which is under the INDIA umbrella, has the Congress, Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) and the NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) as its key constituents and had put up three candidates despite having the support of only 67 MLAs. 

Six MLAs, including an independent, were neutral. 

The Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) was hoping that it would get some votes from the Mahayuti, especially amid the buzz of some leaders from the Ajit Pawar NCP group being in touch with the Sharad Pawar faction.

The candidate backed by the Sharad Pawar faction, Jayant Patil of the Peasants and Workers Party, however, lost because he did not get enough votes. The Congress candidate and the Shiv Sena (UBT) candidate sailed through, as did five from the BJP and two each from the Shinde Shiv Sena and Ajit Pawar’s NCP.

Sources said the 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 of the Shiv Sena UBT. 

Mr Satav got 25 first preference votes and Mr Narvekar got 22, which means at least seven Congress MLAs cross-voted, they added.

New Delhi:

India on Friday said it opposes unilateral actions seeking to change the status quo by force in South China Sea amid concerns over China’s escalatory moves against the Philippines’ maritime operations in the region.

Tensions between China and the Philippines escalated following a violent clash between their maritime security personnel a few days ago in the South China Sea.

“We have always emphasised on adherence to international law, respect for the rules-based order, and resolution of disputes in a peaceful manner,” External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said.

“Other than that, we also believe that there should not be any incident or approach that destabilises the region,” he said.

Mr Jaiswal also underlined India’s long-held position that the disputes must be resolved peacefully.

“We oppose destabilising or unilateral actions that seek to change the status quo by force or coercion as well. And we underline the need for peaceful settlement of disputes,” he said.

There have been growing global concerns over China’s sweeping claims of sovereignty over all of the South China Sea, a huge source of hydrocarbons.

Several countries in the region including Vietnam, the Philippines and Brunei, have counterclaims.

India and many other democratic countries have been pressing for peaceful settlement of the disputes and for adherence to international law, especially the UNCLOS (UN Convention on the Law of the Sea).

US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan spoke to his Filipino counterpart Eduardo M Ano this week following the fresh tensions in the South China Sea.

Mr Sullivan and Mr Ano discussed shared concerns over China’s “dangerous and escalatory actions against the Philippines’ lawful maritime operations near Second Thomas Shoal in the South China Sea, a White House readout said.

“Mr Sullivan reiterated ironclad US commitment to the US-Philippines Mutual Defence Treaty, which extends to armed attacks on Philippine armed forces, public vessels, or aircraft — to include those of its Coast Guard — anywhere in the South China Sea,” it said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)