'Eknath has turned Taj Hotel into a jail': Raut accuses Shinde of keeping BMC corporators 'captive'

Mumbai: With an interesting number game for Mayoral seat of the cash-rich BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) seems to have launched mind-games against its bete noire and Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, who has lodged all the newly-elected corporators inside a five-star hotel.

It may take more than 10 days to have the new BMC Mayor take charge as the Urban Development department is expected to conduct the lottery for the reservation category for the post of Mayors of the 29 municipal corporations of Maharashtra.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has reached the Swiss ski resort town of Davos to attend the World Economic Forum meeting, from where he is expected to be back before the Republic Day festivities.

The Shiv Sena corporators are staying at the Taj Lands End hotel in Bandra Seaface to avoid poaching, however, officially they are attending a three-day training session which among others would be addressed by Shinde.

"No matter how much you confine them, there are many means of communication; messages can still go through," said Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Raut, who is a key aide of Uddhav, the Shiv Sena (UBT) chief and former Maharashtra Chief Minister.

“Out of fears that someone will kidnap them, threaten them or harm them, they have been kept captive in the Taj Lands End. Eknath Shinde has turned the Taj Hotel into a jail," Raut said.

He urged Fadnavis, who is also the state Home Minister, to take cognizance of the situation and ask the Mumbai police to initiate action.

Yuva Sena General Secretary and corporator Amey Ghole said that the newly-elected corporators are in the hotel to attend a three-day training session.

Shinde had instructed the corporators to begin work immediately to justify the trust placed in Shiv Sena by the people.

“Accordingly, Shiv Sena corporators attended the guidance camp the very next day after the election results were declared,” Ghole said.

Senior party leaders will also brief them on the procedures of the BMC and provide guidance on effective governance in their respective wards.

In addition, strategies and campaign plans for the upcoming Zilla Parishad elections will be discussed.

Ghole further stated that the Mayor of Mumbai will be from the Maha Yuti alliance, and that senior leaders of the allied parties will take a decision in this regard.

The number game

Going strictly by numbers, the BJP appears well placed to finally clinch the Mumbai Mayor’s post — a position that has eluded the party for decades. In the 227-member BMC, where the magic figure is 114, the BJP has emerged as the single largest party with 89 seats. Its ally, the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena, has won 29 seats, taking the Maha Yuti tally to 118 — comfortably above the halfway mark.

The Ajit Pawar-led NCP, another BJP ally which contested separately, has secured three seats. If added, the alliance’s strength rises to 121.

On the Opposition side, the front led by the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) has won 65 seats. Its allies — the Raj Thackeray-led MNS with six seats and the Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SP) with one — take the Opposition bloc’s total to 72. The Congress, which contested independently, has won 24 seats.

Meanwhile, the Asaduddin Owaisi-led All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) has secured eight seats, while the Samajwadi Party has won two.