Jaipur: Ahead of the Rajya Sabha polls scheduled on Friday, both the Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party have sealed their MLAs, and independent MLAs supporting them, in hotels.While the Congress first alleged that attempts are being made to lure its MLAs and supporting independent MLAs, and subsequently sealed the MLAs to a hotel, the BJP followed suit, stating its MLAs need training on voting in a Rajya Sabha election.On Tuesday, after a meeting with its legislators at the BJP headquarters in Jaipur, they were shifted to a hotel in the Sitapura industrial area.The BJP said that its shifting of MLAs a few days ago of the Rajya Sabha is not a “baarebandi” as the Congress has done with its MLAs a week ago, instead the MLAs are going to be taught how to vote for the Rajya Sabha during their stay.“There are several MLAs who will vote for the first time in Rajya Sabha polls. It was decided long ago. Cross-voting happens in these polls due to confusion and lack of training. So, we felt it is important to train them,” said Rajasthan BJP president Satish Poonia.Referring to a cricket match being played by Congress MLAs at their hotel, Poonia added that they will not let BJP MLAs indulge in fun and frolic, as more than 300 people have died due to COVID-19 in the state.In the meeting, the BJP slammed the Congress’s allegations that the BJP was attempting to lure its MLA as a gimmick.“People moved from curfew areas to other parts and spread the infection, but the government made no attempt to stop them. They continued to discriminate in the distribution of rations, and filed cases against the public representatives who raised their voice against their misdeeds. And as he saw public outraging over it, he put forth the allegations of purchasing of MLAs,” said Poonia at the meeting.Leader of Opposition, Gulab Chand Kataria, challenged the Congress government to make evidence of the BJP luring its MLAs public. “If there is any evidence of the purchase of MLAs, they should make it public, the government is theirs, the agencies are theirs, then who are they afraid of? If the Congress has the courage, they should make the evidence public before June 19, otherwise it will be assumed that this was nothing more than a gimmick.”“Congress trying to put its infighting on the BJP,” said BJP national general secretary Muralidhar Rao. “These allegations [of horse trading] are only a way to divert the public attention from its failures.”“Ashok Gehlot, who merged the BSP MLAs twice in his party, is talking about morality. In fact, Gehlot is himself involved in elephant trading in Rajasthan,” he added.Also read: Rajasthan Govt Contests Story on Migrants Paying Rail Fare, The Wire RespondsThe Rajasthan assembly has 200 MLAs – made up of the Congress (107), BJP (72), Bharatiya Tribal Party (2), Communist Party of India (Marxist) (2), Rashtriya Loktantrik Party (3), Rashtriya Lok Dal (1) and independent MLAs (13).The Rashtriya Loktantrik Party (RLP) has extended support to the BJP in the Rajya Sabha polls.RLP convenor Pukhraj Garg attended the BJP meeting and extended its support. “We are with the BJP in its fight against the state government that is harassing MLAs and activists by filing cases against them,” he said in the meeting.About 66 out of the 72 MLAs of the BJP attended the meeting on Tuesday. Notably, former chief minister Vasundhara Raje didn’t arrive at the meeting. She has also not joined the MLAs at the hotel.Raje’s absence has raised questions. “There is not much sense of belongingness left in the BJP for Raje. It appears that she would arrive directly at the voting only,” Rajendra Bora, a senior journalist and political analyst based in Jaipur, told The Wire.The Congress organised a press conference on June 12 to publicly announce the allegations of attempts being made to lure its MLAs and destabilise the government, along the lines of what had occurred in Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat.When asked by reporters to disclose details of such attempts in public, the chief minister didn’t give a satisfactory answer.Both the BJP and the Congress have fielded two candidates each, with the BJP nominating Rajendra Gehlot and Onkar Singh Lakhawat and the Congress nominating Neeraj Dangi and K.C. Venugopal for the three vacant Rajya Sabha seats.