Sofitel Hotel a hot favourite for political parleys

Amidst the fast-changing political situation in Karnataka, 10 rebel MLAs of the ruling Congress-JD(S) alliance continue to be in Sofitel Hotel in Mumbai, for the second consecutive day on Sunday.

The five-star luxury hotel in upscale Bandra-Kurla Complex, in the past too, had witnessed political dramas.

The 119-member Congress-JD(S) coalition led by Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy is in serious trouble. The Congress and JD(S) leaderships are making last-ditch efforts to save the government.

The Maharashtra unit of the BJP has refused to comment on the development. A senior Mumbai BJP leader was seen going into the hotel.

“I am not aware, I have no comments to offer,” a senior Maharashtra BJP leader told DH, when specifically asked about the presence of 10 rebel Karnataka legislators in Mumbai.

Sofitel Hotel, which is located in close proximity to the US Consulate, the British Deputy High Commission and the Mumbai Cricket Association ground, has witnessed several political activities in the past.

In the run-up to the 2019 April-May Lok Sabha polls, BJP president Amit Shah, now the Union Home Minister, did the groundwork for the BJP-Sena alliance here, before he, along with Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, met Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray.

Ahead of the 2014 Maharashtra Legislative Assembly polls, the BJP and the Sena broke off after the seat-sharing talks failed at this hotel.

In May 2013, the hotel was in the news when the IPL spot-fixing scandal was unearthed by the Delhi police’s special cell and the elite crime branch-CID of the Mumbai Police.

The MMRDA grounds - the venue of rallies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is a stone’s throwaway from the hotel.