Raipur (Chhattisgarh): At least 30 Jharkhand UPA legislators who were parked in a resort in Chhattisgarh's Raipur due to the threat of BJP poaching the coalition MLAs flew back to Ranchi in a chartered plane on Sunday to attend a special session of the assembly on Monday in which Chief Minister Hemant Soren will seek a vote of trust.
The legislators had been camping at a resort near Raipur since August 30. The chartered plane carrying the MLAs landed at Ranchi airport around 6 pm, an official said.
Fearing poaching of its MLAs by the opposition BJP to topple the government, the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM)-led UPA alliance had shifted the legislators to a luxurious resort in Nava Raipur. The legislators were brought in two buses from the airport and shifted to the Circuit House near Ranchi's Jail Chowk area, officials said.
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The MLAs would be brought directly to the assembly on Monday in a bid to avoid any possible attempt of poaching by the opposition, UPA sources said. Meanwhile, Soren on Sunday evening told reporters that the opposition was hatching a conspiracy against the Jharkhand government, but asserted it will not be successful in any such attempt.
As per a letter sent to the MLAs by the assembly secretariat, the chief minister has expressed his willingness to move a motion of confidence to prove his majority. Following a petition by the BJP seeking Soren's disqualification from the assembly in an office-of-profit case, the Election Commission (EC) communicated its decision to Governor Ramesh Bais on August 25, sparking a political crisis in the state.
Though the EC's decision has not yet been made official, there is a buzz that the poll panel recommended the CM's disqualification as an MLA. The ruling UPA, however, has maintained that Soren's disqualification will not affect the government, as the JMM-Congress-RJD coalition enjoys an absolute majority in the 81-member House.
