India, Aug. 25 -- Following NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar's refusal to support NDA candidate C P Radhakrishnan for the post of vice president and Shiv Sena (UBT)'s indication that the party is likely to stand with its INDIA allies, the Mahayuti leaders are now looking at votes from the opposition MVA camp. Members of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha will be voting in the vice-presidential election. In a meeting on Friday, CM Devendra Fadnavis and deputy CMs Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar discussed the possibility of getting some MVA MPs to vote for the NDA candidate, according to Mahayuti insiders. The MVA has 31 Lok Sabha MPs from Maharashtra. Of them, 13 are from Congress, 9 from Shiv Sena (UBT) and 8 from NCP (SP) and one independent who supports the Congress. Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP (SP) also have two MPs each in the Rajya Sabha. It is these 21 MPs from the two parties that the Mahayuti leaders are eyeing. Fadnavis and the two deputy CMs have been in touch with some MPs from rival factions in the state. A couple of ministers from Maharashtra too have maintained cordial relations with the state's MPs from the opposition camp. As the vice-presidential election is conducted through a secret ballot and the party whip does not apply, it may not be too difficult to convince some MPs to cross-vote, say Mahayuti insiders. On the other hand, MVA leaders say the NDA is wary of some of its own MPs voting for the INDIA candidate and hence are trying to poach votes from other parties. Both Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar have already pressed upon their MPs the importance of INDIA alliance showing that its numbers are intact. It will be known only on the day of results if MVA has managed to keep its votes intact. The general administration department (GAD) on August 21 has issued a government resolution with a set of rules for foreign tours by officers of state government as well as its undertakings. Those travelling abroad will have to justify how the tour would benefit the government, how many tours he/she has undertaken so far and submit a report on their last foreign tour. If a private entity is sponsoring the tour, then they will have to mention the source of income of that entity. The officer clearing the tour will have to ensure that the tour would not lead to conflict of interest and whether the officer pulled any strings to get invitation (from foreign organisations) for such a tour. The officer will have to ensure that the applicant is not in the list of officers with doubtful integrity and specify if there is an ongoing departmental inquiry against him or her. According to GAD officials, the new system is being put in place as the existing system has several loopholes that some officers seem to have taken advantage of. If Raj Thackeray attempted to show that he still maintains cordial relations with Fadnavis, it probably did not work out the way he wanted. The MNS chief called on Fadnavis on Thursday and presented a plan on parking in Mumbai. The two were together at the CM's official residence for over 45 minutes, leading to speculations that the MNS chief didn't want to burn his bridges with Fadnavis. On Saturday, an audio clip of Raj's address to party workers in a closed-door meeting went viral in which he was heard saying that he believed there has been a theft of votes for almost a decade and Rahul Gandhi is saying the same thing only now. An irked Fadnavis on Sunday clarified that his meeting with Thackeray was not significant politically. "Our alliances are not decided on the basis of who meets us," he remarked. Significantly, Mumbai guardian minister Ashish Shelar-once a good friend of the MNS chief-also chose not to comment when asked if the friendship has been revived. The question came after Raj's son Amit called on Shelar seeking postponement of examinations during Ganpati festival. Shelar publicly said Raj was not a friend anymore after he was targeted in MNS' rally on Gudhi Padwa last year. Deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar is known for ensuring that the places he visits are clean and doesn't hesitate giving an earful to those who litter in front of him. His party colleagues in Wardha learnt this lesson this week. During his visit to Wardha on Thursday, Pawar lost his cool as a party worker gave him a bouquet and threw the polythene bag in which he was carrying the flowers on the road. An irked Pawar picked up the bag and remarked angrily to the worker, "What are you doing? People don't like these things. Behave responsibly."...