UPA MLAs staying in Raipur fly back to Jharkhand ahead of floor test

At least 30 MLAs of the ruling United Progressive Alliance (UPA) coalition in Jharkhand made their way back to Ranchi on Sunday afternoon from Raipur, 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 told PTI.

Fearing poaching of its MLAs by the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party 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.

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-Rashtriya Janata Dal coalition enjoys an absolute majority in the 81-member House.