The Assam police on Friday detained a Shiv Sena leader for protesting outside the five-star hotel in Guwahati where party rebel Eknath Shinde and at least 40 other Maharashtra MLAs are staying.
Sanjay Bhosale, who claimed to be the deputy chief of Shiv Sena’s Satara district unit, had flown from Mumbai in the morning and argued with the police for not letting him into the hotel.
He was also carrying a placard urging Mr. Shinde and the other MLAs to return to ‘Matoshree’, the residence of Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray.
“I am the Shiv Sena’s Satara district deputy chief. I am a diehard party worker like Shinde. I wanted to tell him that our party has looked after him well and he should now return to Matoshree,” Mr. Bhosale told some TV channels before he was taken away in a police vehicle.
A police officer said Mr. Bhosale was detained for protesting without seeking permission as the local administration had imposed Section 144 of the CrPC outside the hotel.
The Shinde camp reportedly has 37 Shiv Sena MLAs, the requisite number to escape disqualified under the anti-defection law.
After arriving in Guwahati by a chartered flight from Gujarat’s Surat on June 22, Mr. Shinde claimed that he had 40 MLAs, including some Independents, with him. Eight more MLAs joined the team at the hotel over the next two days.
Altogether, 70 rooms were booked for seven days at the hotel for the Maharashtra MLAs. According to reports, the tariff for seven days is ₹56 lakh. The total cost, including food, was estimated to be ₹1.12 crore.
The hotel has been kept out of bounds for people. Only selected people, including senior Assam BJP leaders and some leading businessmen, were allowed access. It is not entertaining any fresh bookings.
Among the visitors to the hotel was Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma on Thursday. But he said he had entered the hotel briefly for personal reasons and not to meet any politicians.
