Security heightened at hotels where NCP, Cong, Sena MLAs kept

Security has been tightened outside three luxury hotels in Mumbai where MLAs of the NCP, Congress and Shiv Sena have been kept to thwart any poaching attempts, police said on Sunday.

The three parties shifted their MLAs to different hotels in the city after BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis was on Saturday sworn in as the chief minister along with NCP's Ajit Pawar as his deputy.

The dramatic political development took place just hours after the new alliance of Shiv Sena, the NCP and the Congress reached a consensus that Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray will be their chief ministerial candidate.

In a bid to prevent their MLAs from being poached for the forthcoming floor test in the state Assembly, the Congress moved its MLAs to J W Marriott hotel in Juhu area, while the NCP shifted its legislators to The Renaissance hotel in Powai, sources said.

Besides, the Shiv Sena MLAs are staying at The Lalit hotel located near the international airport here, they said.

Personnel from Sahar and Powai police stations along with the reserve police force were deployed outside the Lalit hotel, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone VIII) Manjunath Singhe said.

"Security has already been beefed up outside The Lalit and J W Marriott. We are checking the vehicles as well as persons entering these hotels," he said.

The private security guards of the three hotels were also not allowing anyone to enter the premises without proper checking of their vehicles and belongings, sources said.