Eknath Shinde Has Turned Hotel Into 'Jail', Corporators Being Kept Captive, Says Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut

Mumbai: Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut on Sunday demanded the "release" of Mumbai corporators confined to the "Taj Hotel Jail," and said Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis should take action and order their release.

In the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, the BJP emerged as the largest party with 89 seats in the 227-member House. The Shiv Sena, led by Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, has won 29 seats. Raut claimed that Shinde sequestered the newly elected corporators in the hotel, fearing defections ahead of the decision on the Mumbai mayor. 

The Sena (UBT) leader Raut said that Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena has become an "appendage" of the BJP. "What position Eknath Shinde is holding out for is a matter for him and his party. His party is an appendage of the BJP. Amit Shah is their leader. They will go to him and make demands, but according to my information, Fadnavis will not listen to them," Raut said.

Raut said Shinde despite holding the powerful position of a Deputy Chief Minister, was apprehensive that his corporators would switch sides, terming the whole situation as “ridiculous.”

"They have kept their corporators confined. They broke away the MLAs, so now they have to keep the corporators confined as well. They had taken the MLAs to Surat. Eknath Shinde himself is the Deputy Chief Minister, yet he is afraid that his corporators will run away, what a ridiculous situation this is..." Raut said.

"The corporators who have come from this alliance (BJP-Shiv Sena)... out of fears that someone will kidnap them, threaten them, or harm them, they have been kept captive in the Taj Hotel. Eknath Shinde has turned the Taj Hotel into a Jail.

He should immediately release the twenty-nine or twenty-five people he has held captive there. The CM should order the police to break the "jail" and release the corporators," he said.

Meanwhile, reacting to the results of the Maharashtra local body elections, Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi said, "Even when it was time to choose the Chief Minister, there was this same kind of tug-of-war... When Eknath Shinde was given the responsibility of Deputy Chief Minister, he too appeared upset... 29 seats have gone to that faction which split our party... The people of Mumbai have shown them the mirror and made it clear which is the real Shiv Sena... Everyone knows the reality that Eknath Shinde has no option but to move forward with this alliance..."

Also read: 'Resort Politics' In Maharashtra? Shinde Sena Hides Corporators In Bandra Hotel Amid 'Poaching' Fear After BMC Results