MUMBAI (IANS) – The trio of Congress, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and the Shiv Sena have put up their MLAs in hotels in order to guard vulnerable ones against being poached by the BJP and the NCP splinter group.
The Shiv Sena has lodged their MLAS in Hotel Lalit, the Congress in JW Marriott, while the NCP ones are staying in Renaissance.
Shiv Sena leader Subhash Desai is on his toes with the Shiv Sainik MLAs. The hotel has been cordoned off and none of them are allowed to leave, while directions on security are being given by Shiv Sena supremo Uddhav Thackrey’s top aide Milind Narvekar.
The heir apparent Aditya Thackrey is also meeting the MLAs to keep their morale high.
In NCP, Jitendra Ahwad has been given this task to do the duty and counter any attempt from Ganesh Naik who had switched to the BJP before the elections. Sharad Pawar himself is meeting the MLAs, while Mumbai unit President Nawab Malik is round-the-clock in and around the Renaissance. Jayant Patil is also taking the rounds.
The Congress is more dependent on its Delhi leaders for the job. Initially, the Congress MLAs were to fly out of Mumbai, but anticipating the Supreme Court ruling and on the advice of Sharad Pawar, the party decided to house them in Mumbai.
Former Chief Minister Ashok Chavan and Prithviraj Chavan are the key point persons for the Congress. Without their go-ahead, nobody can meet the MLAs.
Prominent Congress troubleshooter Ahmed Patel is managing the show and giving directions to the legal team in Delhi. Party leader who are lawyers are fighting the battle in court.
The former Congress leader of opposition in the assembly, Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil, had crossed over to the BJP ahead of the polls, and the Congress is wary of him and other silent operators, including Kripa Shankar who is also with the BJP.
Former Pawar aide Ganesh Naik is attempting to poach in the NCP, but sources here say that most of the NCP MLAs are first timers so they don’t have much of a relationship with the older leaders.
