Camping in hotel, Rajasthan Congress legislators watch movie on Mahatma Gandhi, perform yoga

Cooped up in a hotel to ward off any bid for poaching or horse-trading by political rival ahead of the June 19 Rajya Sabha election, Congress legislators on Sunday watched a movie on Mahatma Gandhi and performed yoga to unwind themselves, party leaders said.

The legislators camping at the hotel on the outskirts of the city put up a united face ahead of the crucial election. The Congress, which governs Rajasthan, has accused the BJP of attempting horse-trading ahead of the June 19 election, and has assembled its MLAs and legislators supporting the party-led government in the state in the hotel.

The BJP has, however, dismissed the charge. The Congress has fielded K C Venugopal and Neeraj Dangi as its candidates. The numbers in the state assembly suggest that the Congress would win two seats in the Rajya Sabha elections on June 19 and the BJP one. But the BJP has fielded two candidates, triggering charges that it was counting on horse-trading. Rajasthan Congress president and deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot, who had gone to New Delhi on Saturday, had to stay back in the capital due to personal reasons, party leaders said. Pilot was to return to Rajasthan on Sunday.