Bihar Congress MLAs under tight security in Hyderabad resort

Tight security arrangements have been made for Congress MLAs from Bihar staying at a resort near Hyderabad after they were shifted here on the night of 4 February to foil suspected poaching attempts by the BJP-led NDA (National Democratic Alliance).

Security personnel were keeping tight vigil around Siri Nature's Valley Resort at Kagazghat in Rangareddy district, about 40 km from Telangana state capital Hyderabad. Police have erected barricades to check the movement of vehicles around the resort off Nagarjuna Sagar Road.

The Congress, which is in power in Telangana, has made all arrangements to ensure that the MLAs are comfortable, with local Congress MLA Malreddy Rangareddy supervising the arrangements. The Ibrahimpatnam MLA personally received the legislators at Rajiv Gandhi International Airport and escorted them to the resort amidst tight security.

Authorities have ensured that outsiders have no access to the block allotted to the MLAs. Sources said this was done as a precautionary measure to make sure that no one tried to approach the MLAs.

A few Bihar Congress leaders accompanying the MLAs were coordinating the arrangements with the party's Telangana leadership, including ministers.

The MLAs are likely to stay in the resort until 11 February. Chief minister A. Revanth Reddy will reportedly meet them after his return from Jharkhand, where he travelled on Monday to participate in Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra.

The MLAs were moved from Bihar state capital Patna to Hyderabad amidst poaching fears ahead of the trust vote in the Bihar Assembly on 12 February.

As the newly formed NDA government readies to prove majority in the Assembly, some Congress leaders have voiced apprehension that the BJP or its ally Janata Dal (United) may try to lure Congress MLAs over to the NDA side.

The Congress is the second largest constituent of the Maha Gathbandhan (grand alliance), which lost power after chief minister and JD(U) president Nitish Kumar returned to the NDA. The party has 19 MLAs in Bihar, and three remaining MLAs are also likely to reach Hyderabad in a day or two.

The Bihar MLAs arrived in Hyderabad on a day when Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) and Congress MLAs returned to Jharkhand's capital Ranchi after a three-day stay in Hyderabad. About 40 MLAs of the two parties had reached Hyderabad on 2 February in two chartered aircraft, and were staying at Leonia Resort on the city's outskirts.

Jharkhand’s new government, led by Champai Soren, proved its majority in the state Assembly on Monday. Soren took oath as Jharkhand chief minister on Friday, two days after the arrest of former chief minister Hemant Soren by the Enforcement Directorate in an alleged case of money laundering.