MVA leaders hold meeting to showcase strength before Rajya Sabha elections

The meeting, which took place at Mumbai's Trident hotel, was attended by around 125 members from the three constituents of the MVA – Shiv Sena, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Congress – and 13 independents, said an NCP leader.

Maharashtra’s ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) held a show of strength in Mumbai on Tuesday, ahead of a high-stakes battle for the Rajya Sabha elections later this week.

Shiv Sena MLAs being shifted from the resort to a hotel in south Mumbai on Tuesday. (PTI)

The meeting, which was held at Trident hotel here, was attended by around 125 members from the three constituents of the MVA – Shiv Sena, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Congress – and 13 independents, a NCP leader said on condition of anonymity.

“No matter what, the four candidates of Maha Vikas Aghadi will go to Rajya Sabha,” chief minister Uddhav Thackeray told reporters.

The Bharatiya Janata Party, which has 106 lawmakers, is expected to hold its own show of strength on Thursday, party functionaries said.

MVA has fielded four candidates – Sanjay Raut and Sanjay Pawar (both Shiv Sena), Praful Patel (NCP) and Imran Pratapgarhi (Congress) but has the numbers to ensure the election of at least three.

BJP has fielded three candidates – Piyush Goyal, Anil Bonde and Dhananjay Mahadik – and has the numbers to push through two. The fight for the sixth Rajya sabha seat from the state is therefore between Sena’s second candidate, Pawar, and BJP’s third candidate, Mahadik.

This is the first time in 24 years that an election to the Upper House from the state is witnessing a fierce contest.

The BJP has asked all its members to reach Mumbai for a meeting to be held in the presence of central observer and railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Wednesday. The party is expected to shift its MLAs to a Cuffe Parade hotel for two days.

The Sena MLAs have been lodged at Trident since Monday, while NCP and Congress lawmakers are staying at a Powai hotel. Precautions are being taken to avoid any poaching of MLAs in the crucial battle where every vote counts, a Sena leader said.