For the rebel Shiv Sena MLAs led by dissident leader Eknath Shinde from Maharashtra, at least 70 rooms have been booked for seven days at Radisson Blu, a five-star hotel in Guwahati.
The Maharashtra MLAs reached the BJP-ruled state on Wednesday morning by a charter aircraft from Surat and were taken to the hotel on the outskirts of Guwahati amid tight security.
According to reports, seven days’ tariff for the rooms in Guwahati’s Radisson Blu hotel is ₹ 56 lakh, sources at the hotel and local politicians told NDTV. Add to this a daily estimated cost of food and other services at ₹ 8 lakh a day.
The entire cost of keeping these MLAs will include a lot more, like transportation and other expenses that may not be known so far.
Hours after the group of Maharashtra MLAs reached Assam and were put up in the luxury hotel on Wednesday, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had said that he welcomes all to visit Assam as the state needs revenue to deal with the devastating flood.
He also said, without elaborating, that he will be happy if Assam becomes an “international political epicentre”.
Guwahati has many luxury hotels and if the rooms are full, “we should be happy as it will bring in revenue. We will earn through GST and we need it during these difficult times of devastating floods in the state”, Sarma said.
The opposition in Assam, meanwhile, hit out at the Himanta Biswa government, saying the ruling party was busy playing politics at a time the state was reeling under a devastating flood. Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi said the “diversion of government resources” towards guarding Maharashtra MLAs is heartless and cold-blooded amid the devastating floods.
Eknath Shinde has been camping in Guwahati with around 40 MLAs, including Independents, and demanding the Shiv Sena break its alliance with the Congress and the NCP. Some of the rebels have said the Sena should tie up with “natural ally” BJP to form a new government. The MLAs have booked the hotel in Guwahati for a week, indicating they are prepared for the long haul.
Also read: Assam: TMC protest outside Guwahati hotel hosting Shiv Sena rebels
