Rebel MLAs, who are staying in a five-star hotel in Guwahati, have emerged as one of the nerve centres amid the ongoing political crisis for the Uddhav Thackeray government. 

News organisation NDTV reported that as many as 70 rooms have been booked for seven days.

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At first, the MLAs led by Eknath Shinde were in a hotel in Surat in BJP-ruled Gujarat after reaching there on Monday. They then flew into Guwahati in Assam, another BJP-ruled state, on Wednesday.

NDTV reported that the seven days’ tariff for the rooms in Guwahati’s Radisson Blu hotel is Rs 56 lakh. Add to this a daily estimated cost of food and other services at Rs 8 lakh a day.

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However, the cost of the whole “operation”, will include chartered flights and other transport arrangements, besides other expenses that may not be known so far.

Eknath Shinde, who is camping in Guwahati with more than 40 MLAs, including Independents, has demanded the Shiv Sena break its alliance with the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), saying that Shiv Sena leaders suffered the most in the last two-and-a-half years of the coalition’s rule.

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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.

Uddhav Thackeray, who vacated his official residence on Wednesday night but stopped short of resigning as Chief Minister, has gone silent again after his emotional appeal to the rebels flopped. Three more MLAs left for Guwahati after his speech.