GUWAHATI: Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde and the party's rebel MLAs he is leading celebrated with sweets after the Supreme Court had on Monday granted interim relief by extending the time of disqualification reply till July 12.
These Maharashtra MLAs have been holed up at the five-star Radisson Blu hotel in Guwahati since their arrival from Surat early Wednesday morning.
Asked about the celebration, someone who has access to the hotel said, "They are happy."
To another query on whether they distributed sweets among themselves, his answer was "yes". He signed off with "wait for sometime".
There was a rush of top police officers, other officials and lawyers to the hotel on Monday. It was not known why they visited it.
The police officers include Special Director-General of Police GP Singh and Joint Commissioner of Police Partha Sarathi Mahanta. Singh has been at the hotel since morning.
IAS officer GD Tripathi, who is the chief executive officer of the Assam State Disaster Management Authority, also visited the hotel. Some ministers and MLAs of ruling BJP in the state also visiting the MLAs on a daily basis.
The hotel has been virtually turned into a fortress with an estimated 200-300 security personnel deployed in and around it. Very few people have access to it. The entry and exit of people are recorded in a register at the hotel's entrance. Fresh bookings at Radisson Blu are not being entertained anymore.
Meanwhile, Shiv Sena's Manipur chief M Tombi Singh and three others from the state were on Monday detained by the police from near the hotel.
Singh told The New Indian Express from the police station that he was among 70 Sena workers who came from Manipur, Tripura and different parts of Assam and were camping in Guwahati.
"Seventeen of us had come from Manipur. We had gone to the hotel area to tell the MLAs to patch up as we stand opposed to the division of Shiv Sena. But, the police detained four of us," Singh said.
He also said he had been in touch with the Sena leaders from Maharashtra.
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