Ranchi, Jun 16 (PTI) MLAs of the opposition NDA in Jharkhand were moved to a hotel here, while the INDIA bloc legislators participate in mock polls on Tuesday, two days before the election to two Rajya Sabha seats in Jharkhand.
BJP leaders said their legislators will hold meetings and undergo training about the voting process.
Responding to the development, the ruling JMM claimed that the NDA does not have faith in its MLA.
JMM candidate Baidyanath Ram, Congress nominee Pranav Jha and BJP-supported Independent candidate Parimal Nathwani are contesting for the two Rajya Sabha seats in the state.
A candidate is required to secure a minimum of 28 first-preference votes to emerge victorious in the June 18 polls. The BJP-led NDA has 24 MLAs in the Jharkhand Assembly, while the INDIA bloc has 56 members.
Asked if the MLAs would stay at the hotel for two days, Leader of Opposition Babulal Marandi said, “We will hold meetings.” The former chief minister exuded confidence in the victory of Nathwani in one of the seats.
BJP chief whip Naveen Jaiswal said the decision to hold a meeting and training for the poll exercise was taken during the NDA legislature party meeting 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 where they would impart training regarding the poll exercise,” Jaiswal told reporters.
Senior JMM leader and Rajya Sabha MP Mahua Maji said, “Sending its (NDA) MLAs to a hotel shows that the BJP doesn’t have faith in them. On the contrary, our chief minister (Hemant Soren) did not put any pressure on any MLA, as he has complete faith in them.” Meanwhile, the India bloc legislators met at Chief Minister Hemant Soren’s residence, where they discussed details of the polling.
Senior Congress leader and Parliamentary Affairs minister Radhakrishna Kishore said that a mock poll was also conducted on the occasion as part of the training of MLAs.
“JMM candidate Baidyanath Ram received 29 votes, while Congress candidate Pranav Jha got 27 votes during the mock poll. CPI-ML Liberation’s Arup Chatterjee was not present, but he had informed us earlier,” Kishore said.
Congress MLA Pardip Yadav said that a meeting will also be held at the CM’s residence on Wednesday.
The BJP-led NDA does not have the numbers in the state assembly to make Nathwani a winner in the polls, unless there is cross-voting, a ruling party legislator said.
In the Jharkhand Assembly, the INDIA bloc has 56 members, comprising 34 from the JMM, 16 from the Congress, four from the RJD and two from CPI(ML) Liberation.
The NDA has 24 MLAs — 21 from the BJP and one each from the LJP (Ram Vilas), AJSU Party and the JD(U). The Jharkhand Loktantrik Krantikari Morcha has one MLA.
One of the Rajya Sabha seats in the state fell vacant following the death of JMM co-founder Shibu Soren. The other vacancy is due to the completion of BJP member Deepak Prakash’s tenure on June 21. PTI SAN NSD NN
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