NDA shifts Jharkhand MLAs to hotel ahead of Rajya Sabha polls; JMM questions move

MLAs of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in Jharkhand were shifted to a hotel in Ranchi on Tuesday, two days ahead of elections to two Rajya Sabha seats in the state.

BJP leaders said the legislators would participate in meetings and training sessions related to the voting process before the polls scheduled for 18 June.

The move drew criticism from the ruling Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), which claimed the NDA's decision reflected a lack of confidence in its own legislators.

JMM candidate Baidyanath Ram, Congress nominee Pranav Jha and BJP-backed Independent candidate Parimal Nathwani are in the fray for the two Rajya Sabha seats.

A candidate requires at least 28 first-preference votes to secure election. While the INDIA bloc has 56 members in the 81-member Assembly, the NDA has 24 MLAs.

Asked whether the legislators would remain at the hotel until polling day, Leader of Opposition Babulal Marandi said only that the alliance would hold meetings over the next two days.

The former chief minister expressed confidence that Nathwani would secure one of the two seats.

BJP chief whip Naveen Jaiswal said the decision to organise meetings and training sessions was taken at the NDA legislature party meeting held on Monday.

“For the next two days, a series of meetings will be held to chalk out future strategies. There are several new MLAs, so a training programme has also been arranged to familiarise them with the voting process,” Jaiswal told reporters.

Most NDA legislators had shifted to the hotel by the time this report was filed.

Senior JMM leader and Rajya Sabha MP Mahua Maji criticised the move, saying it showed the BJP lacked faith in its own MLAs.

“Sending its MLAs to a hotel shows that the BJP does not trust them. On the contrary, Chief Minister Hemant Soren has not put any pressure on our legislators because he has complete faith in them,” she said.

A ruling alliance legislator claimed that the NDA did not have sufficient numbers in the Assembly to ensure Nathwani's victory unless cross-voting occurred.

The INDIA bloc currently has 56 MLAs, comprising 34 from the JMM, 16 from the Congress, four from the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and two from the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation.

The NDA has 24 legislators — 21 from the BJP and one each from the Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas), All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU) Party and Janata Dal (United).

The Jharkhand Loktantrik Krantikari Morcha has one MLA.

One of the Rajya Sabha vacancies arose following the death of JMM co-founder Shibu Soren, while the second seat fell vacant due to the completion of BJP member Deepak Prakash's term on 21 June.