Cong, NCP hide their men prior to civic poll

The ruling front partners in Maharashtra have carted away their Navi Mumbai corporators to undisclosed destinations to prevent horse-trading...

The ruling front partners in Maharashtra have carted away their Navi Mumbai corporators to undisclosed destinations to prevent horse-trading during tomorrow’s mayoral election.

None of the parties are willing to leave anything to chance to gain control over this Rs 300-crore civic board.

In the House of 62, the Congress is the largest party with 24 members, followed by NCP with 18. The rest (11 Sena members, seven independents and one each from RPI and PWP) holds the key to power.

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The Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee has packed off its 24 corporators on a pilgrimage to keep the flock together. MPCC president Govindrao Adik said the team is on a teerth yatra They will go on a round of Ashtavinayak Temple at Pen in Panvel, Ganpatipule, Raigad, Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg, before coming to a spacious heritage bungalow near the Calangute beach in Goa on Thursday Morning, where they will stay put till Friday.

Speaking to Indian Express from Goa, MPCC general secretary Sanjay Dutt confirmed that the corporators were on an ‘‘introspective trip.’’ ‘‘They were not pressurised,’’ he said.

NCP has moved its corporators to Lonavala and Gangapur. The Shiv Sena, which has been maintaining silence, has kept its councillors at a farmhouse near Raigad to prevent poaching from both the Congress and NCP.