Jharkhand: UPA MLAs on the move again, arrives in Raipur

New Delhi, Aug 30: The MLAs of the ruling JMM-led alliance in Jharkhand are on the move again as Raj Bhavan has remained silent over the Election Commission's ruling on Chief Minister Hemant Soren's qualification as an MLA.

The MLAs arrived at Raipur airport from Ranchi after a meeting with Chief Minister Hemanth Soren on Tuesday afternoon.

A chartered flight carrying about 40 MLAs took off from the Ranchi airport shortly after 4.30 pm towards Raipur, the capital of Chhattisgarh, PTI sources said. The ruling coalition has 49 MLAs in the 81-member Assembly.

They will stay at Mayfair resort, said reports, stating security has been beefed up outside the airport.

"This is not a surprising move. It happens in politics. We are ready to face any situation," Chief Minister Hemant Soren told reporters after coming out of the airport.

The legislators had started from Soren's residence in two buses and Soren himself was on the front seat of one of them. He came out of the Birsa Munda Airport staying inside for some time.

A few days ago, the UPA leaders along with the CM had gone to the Latratu dam in Khunti district. After having quality time, they returned on the same day.

In February this year, the BJP submitted a memorandum to the Governor seeking disqualification of Soren from the House under Section 9(A) of the Representation of People's Act. The Governor had forwarded BJP complaint to the ECI and the poll panel in May had issued a notice to the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha leader.

Soren has alleged that the EC report was "drafted" by the principal opposition party in Jharkhand, BJP to topple the Jharkhand government. The trail of events gained pace after Nishikant Dubey, BJP Member of Parliament from Godda, Jharkhand, tweeted that a letter from the ECI has reached the Raj Bhavan.

The Chief Minister's office released a statement last Thursday after several media reports speculated that the ECI had sent a report to the Governor about Soren's disqualification. "The Chief Minister is apprised of several media reports about ECI sending a report to Honorable Governor -Jharkhand 'apparently recommending his disqualification as an MLA'. No communication in this regard has been received by CMO from either ECI or Governor," read the statement.

In the 81-member Jharkhand Assembly, the ruling alliance has 30 MLAs of the JMM, 18 MLAs of the Congress and one MLA of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD).