Mumbai: Shiv Sena on THursday decided to shift all its 56 legislators to a private sea-facing hotel in suburban Bandra to avoid any possibility of poaching.
Sources in Shiv Sena said that the elected MLAs would continue to stay in the said hotel till the political crisis in the state is resolved.
The legislators, who are from Mumbai and different parts of Maharashtra, are expected to be lodged at the Hotel Rangsharda near the Bandstand in Bandra West.
The hotel is barely a couple of kms from Sena President Uddhav Thackeray’s residence in Bandra East.
Speaking on the decision, Sena MP Sanjay Raut denied that any of their legislators would be susceptible to poaching.
Meanwhile, adopting a firm stance against possible deserters, the Sena, Congress and Nationalist Congress Party have unofficially reached an understanding that in case any legislator from their respective parties defects, he/she would be defeated by them unitedly in the next elections.
It is reliably learnt that groups of Shiv Sainiks and activists of the Congress-NCP are keeping 24×7 tabs on the movements, activities and visitors of their respective legislators in a bid to prevent anybody from crossing over to the BJP.