Resort politics in municipal polls too as MCM councillors flown to Nepal
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Incidentally, Manesar was the only corporation where BJP didn't win the mayoral seat in the civic elections that were held earlier this year. An Independent, Inderjit Kaur Yadav, was elected mayor. So, there is intense jockeying for influence over the deputies. The two positions for which polls will be held are those of senior deputy mayor and deputy mayor.
Sources said the 12 councillors were flown off over the weekend to Pokhara and were accompanied by a senior BJP functionary, a loyalist of minister and Badshapur MLA Rao Narbir Singh.
An unspecified number was sequestered in other cities within India, the sources added.
According to party insiders, the councillors' group in Nepal was on its way back to the city on Monday and would reach either late night or early Tuesday morning. In case of the latter, they will directly go to the Manesar conference hall where voting is scheduled between 10.30am and 1.45pm.
Sources in BJP said the strategy was a preventive measure against any last-minute poaching or crossvoting.
"The risk of defections or councillors shifting loyalties under pressure is real. After the mayoral loss to an Independent candidate backed by Rao Inderjit Singh, we couldn't afford another setback," said a senior BJP functionary, referring to the tussle for influence between the Union minister and Gurgaon MP and Narbir.
Election for the senior deputy mayor and deputy mayor holds both symbolic and strategic importance because the mayor is a Rao Inderjit loyalist who prevailed despite intense campaigning for the BJP candidate by Narbir.
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Eventually, seven BJP candidates were elected in the 20-member civic body. After the polls, seven Independent councillors joined BJP, taking the party's tally to 14 and putting it in a good position to call the shots in Tuesday's elections.
However, such numerical reassurances can prove ephemeral before crunch votes, so moving the flock to Nepal was thought to be the right move by Narbir's camp to ensure unity and minimise last-minute shifts, especially amid attempts by the rival faction to re-establish contact with some of the turncoats, sources said.
Photos of some of the councillors dining at a restaurant in Kathmandu and sightseeing in Pokhara have surfaced on social media, drawing comments about the need for such "extreme measures" in a municipality level election.
Narbir has, however, denied his role in Nepal trip for the councillors. "I'm not aware of any trip. There is election on Tuesday and all councillors will be there. I am sure BJP candidates will get the seats".
On rivalry with Rao Inderjit, Narbir said he is a senior BJP functionary and Union minister, and there are no such differences.
Parties or netas protecting their flock against horse-trading by herding them into hotels and resorts at faraway places ahead of crucial events like a confidence motion or a trust vote, or breaking away to form a new party or joining another, is not uncommon. But that happens at the state or national levels.
Maharashtra, Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh have seen episodes of MLAs being flown to luxury resorts in Goa, Rajasthan, and even hotels in Gurgaon.
During his power struggle with Ashok Gehlot, Congress's Sachin Pilot had led a group of MLAs to a hotel in Manesar.
For Tuesday's poll in Manesar, during which councillors will vote to elect the two deputies to the mayor, both sides exuded confidence on their numbers. According to BJP sources, consensus has been reached on fielding Praveen Yadav, councillor from Ward 12, and Reema Deepak Chauhan, councillor from Ward 2, for the posts. The rival bloc has not publicly disclosed its candidates.
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