Jharkhand MLAs fly back to Ranchi from Hyderabad ahead of trust vote

Hyderabad, Feb 4 (PTI) The MLAs of the ruling JMM-led alliance in Jharkhand, who stayed at a resort here for the past three days, left for Ranchi on Sunday, a day ahead of the trust vote in the Assembly.

About 40 legislators had arrived to Hyderabad in two flights on February 2, amid the coalition's fears that the BJP may attempt to "poach" them in the run-up to a trust vote to be faced by the newly-formed Champai Soren government, left from the RGI Airport at Shamshabad here by a flight to Ranchi, Congress sources said.

The MLAs were accommodated in a luxury resort at Shamirpet on the city outskirts, during the past three days.

"They left from the resort and headed to Ranchi in a flight from the airport at Shamshabad," the sources said.

A senior leader of the ruling coalition in Jharkhand had earlier said that the decision to shift the legislators to Hyderabad was taken considering that the opposition BJP might make attempts to "poach" them.

"We were given 10 days to prove the government's majority. We cannot take any chances during this period as the BJP might try to contact our MLAs," the senior leader had said.

A video released by the JMM-led coalition on Thursday showed the support of 43 legislators in the 81-member Jharkhand Assembly. PTI