Jharkhand, August 27: Amid the deepening political crisis in Jharkhand due to the uncertainty over Chief Minister Hemant Soren’s fate as an MLA, Soren and ruling legislators were seen leaving for some unknown destination on three buses.
The three buses were occupied by the legislators of the ruling JMM-Congress-RJD coalition and guarded by security personnel.
Sources said the legislators are being shifted to a “friendly state”, which could either be West Bengal or Chhattisgarh. Both the states have non-BJP governments.
The development took place soon after a marathon third round of a meeting of legislators of the ruling alliance at the chief minister’s residence to chalk out a strategy to deal with the emerging scenario.
The ruling MLAs took part in the meeting along with their luggage.
Governor Ramesh Bais is likely to send the order of disqualification of Soren as an MLA to the Election Commission of India (ECI) on Saturday, Raj Bhavan sources said. “All arrangements to park our coalition legislators in either Chhattisgarh or West Bengal, both run by non-BJP governments, have been made. Three luxury buses will transport the MLAs and security personnel by road. There will also be some escort vehicles,” a Congress source said.
The source said three locations in Chhattisgarh, including Barmuda and Raipur, and some places in West Bengal have been identified. “All ruling MLAs will be sent to a single destination if the need arises. All the MLAs have come with their luggage to the CM’s house to attend the crucial meeting which is underway,” another source said.A JMM source said the option to take the legislators out of Jharkhand was open and all preparations have been made but the final decision will be taken only after the disqualification order is dispatched by the governor. In the rapidly changing political scenario, ‘resort politics’ is the need of the hour to keep the numbers of the ruling alliance intact, party sources asserted.
