By IANS
Bhopal : The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Madhya Pradesh has started a probe to identify the legislators who voted for United Progressive Alliance (UPA) candidate Pratibha Patil in the presidential elections, even as party sources attribute the cross voting to dissatisfaction within the party.
Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, the independent candidate backed by BJP, got only 162 votes though the party has 169 legislators. Further, as many as 11 votes were found invalid despite a "training session" for the party legislators on the eve of the polls.
Patil, however, landed 53 votes though Congress has only 40 legislators in the state. Patil defeated Shekhawat Saturday to become India's 12th president.
Though the BJP has started an inquiry into the matter, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan Monday declined to comment over the 11 invalid votes in the polls.
But party leaders said the cross voting was an expression of growing dissatisfaction towards the party leadership within the party.
"Party leaders including MLAs who have toiled for the party's victory in the 2003 assembly polls haven't got anything except empty promises despite 10 ministerial posts and posts of chairman in several corporations lying vacant," a party member said.
Party sources said Patil's envoys not only succeeded in pursuing MLAs suspended due to their loyalty to Uma Bharti's Bharatiya Janshakti Party (BJS) but also poached a few BJP MLAs.
The Congress had, at the behest of Patil, constituted a separate group of three leaders, including former MLA Virendra Singh Sisodia, state party spokesman Brij Mohan Srivastava and another senior leader, captain Jaipal Singh, to harness non-Congress votes in favour of the UPA candidate.
Sisodia also happens to be a close relative of the UPA candidate – his sister is married to Patil's brother.
"The group, considered close to state Congress President Subhash Yadav, not only cultivated non-BJP votes in her favour but also managed to poach some BJP MLAs. And it is at the behest of these Congress leaders that at least four BJP legislators Met Pratibha in Delhi a day prior to the elections," Congress sources claimed.
"While the BJP legislators could be managed easily, the group had a tough time convincing MLAs close to Uma Bharati. In fact they never agreed to vote for the UPA candidate but approved of Subhash Yadav's idea of making their votes invalid," a Congress leader said on condition of anonymity.