Resort politics back in Maharashtra after BJP pulls midnight stunner

Mumbai, Nov 23: Amid fears of poaching, the Congress and the Shiv Sena are moving their respective MLAs to different resorts after the two parties were caught off-guard by NCP leader Ajit Pawar's surprise move to join the BJP.

"We may go to Jaipur tomorrow. We will be there until the special session of the state Legislative Assembly is convened for newly-elected MLAs to take oath, election of Speaker and trust vote," Congress MLA Nana Patole told PTI.

The NCP has decided to shift its MLAs to Renaissance Hotel in Mumbai.

The Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress combine filed a petition in the Supreme Court seeking quashing of the Maharashtra governor's decision to swear-in BJP's Devendra Fadnavis as chief minister and demanded an immediate floor test to avoid "further horse trading".

The three parties also sought a direction to Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari to invite them to form government under the leadership of Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, saying they have the support of more than 144 MLAs.

For the BJP to prove its majority it would need the support of at least 25 NCP MLAs. It would all depend on how many of these MLAs would stay back with Sharad Pawar.

The BJP has 105 MLAs on its own. It also has the backing of 15 independent MLAs, taking its tally up to 120. In the 288 member house, the magic number if 145. If all the NCP MLAs back the government then the tally goes up to 174, which is way past the majority mark.

The Shiv Sena and Congress have 56 and 44 seats respectively.