Four Ministers of the ruling UPA coalition in Jharkhand returned to Ranchi on August 31 evening, a day after they and 28 MLAs were shifted to a resort near the Chhattisgarh capital in view of political developments in their home State.
One of the Ministers said they are going back to Ranchi for a Cabinet meeting scheduled on Thursday.
Earlier in the day, Jharkhand Minister Satyanand Bhokta and MLA Pradeep Yadav flew to Raipur in a chartered plane, a local Congress leader said.
While Mr. Bhokta accompanied four Ministers — Alamgir Alam, Banna Gupta, Rameshwar Oraon, and Badal Patralekh — who were staying at the resort on the return flight, Mr. Yadav was shifted to Mayfair Golf resort in Nava Raipur where his colleagues from Jharkhand are sequestered.
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“We [the Ministers] are going back for a Cabinet meeting scheduled on Thursday. What the BJP has done in Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka and Goa, it wanted to replicate it in Jharkhand. There are reports that our CM has been disqualified while the Election Commission's decision is yet to be made public. Although we are not afraid as we have numbers," Mr. Alam told reporters at Raipur airport.
The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha-Congress-Rashtriya Janata Dal coalition in Jharkhand on Tuesday flew its 32 MLAs to Raipur to prevent the BJP's alleged attempts to poach its legislators and shifted them to the luxurious resort in Nava Raipur.
Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren did not accompany the UPA MLAs to Raipur, but some senior JMM leaders are with them, sources added.
The ruling UPA coalition has 49 MLAs in the 81-member Jharkhand Assembly.
Mr. Soren's JMM believes that the BJP may make a serious attempt to poach MLAs of the party and alliance partner Congress in a bid to topple the coalition government.
Following a petition by the BJP seeking Mr. Soren's disqualification from the Assembly in an office of profit case, the Election Commission sent its decision to State Governor Ramesh Bais on August 25.
Though the EC's decision is not yet made public, there was a buzz that the poll panel had recommended the Chief Minister's disqualification as an MLA.
