The Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena on Monday shifted its MLAs to a suburban hotel in Mumbai to thwart any attempts of horse-trading ahead of the Rajya Sabha election scheduled for June 10.
Thackeray, who heads the coalition government in Maharashtra, also held a meeting with the MLAs at his official residence, Varsha, in the evening.
Visuals tweeted by news agency ANI showed a group of MLAs, accompanied by police personnel, boarding a luxury bus. Two such buses were seen at the location.
The development comes amid speculations that some smaller allies of the Maha Vikas Aghadi may help the BJP’s Rajya Sabha candidates.
While the name of the hotel where the MLAs will be shifted to is yet to be known, ANI said they were being moved to a hotel in Malad – a suburb located in North Mumbai.
Elections will be held on six Rajya Sabha seats from Maharashtra. The ruling MVA government has fielded four candidates and the BJP has nominated three of its leaders for the RS polls.
Earlier in the day, Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik, currently in jail in a money laundering case, approached a special court in Mumbai seeking bail for one day to cast his vote in the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections.
A similar application was last week moved by Maharashtra’s former home minister Anil Deshmukh, who is also in jail on money laundering charges.
The BJP, which has 106 members in the House, has nominated Union minister Piyush Goyal, Anil Bonde, and Dhananjay Mahadik.
The NCP has re-nominated former Union minister Praful Patel, while the Congress has fielded Imran Pratapgarhi. Sanjay Raut and Sanjay Pawar are nominees of the Shiv Sena.
(With agency inputs)