Tight security for Bihar Congress MLAs at Hyderabad resort

Security personnel were keeping a tight vigil around Siri Nature's Valley Resort at Kagazghat in Rangareddy district, about 40 km from the city.

Hyderabad: Tight security has been made for Congress MLAs from Bihar staying at a resort near here after they were shifted here on Sunday night to foil suspected poaching attempt by the BJP-led NDA. Security personnel were keeping a tight vigil around Siri Nature’s Valley Resort at Kagazghat in Rangareddy district, about 40 km from the city.

Police have erected barricades to check the movement of vehicles around the resort off the Nagarjuna Sagar Road. The Congress party, which is in power in Telangana, has made all arrangements to ensure the MLAs stay comfortable.

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Local Congress MLA Malreddy Rangareddy was supervising the arrangements. The Ibrahimpatnam MLA personally received the legislators from Bihar at Rajiv Gandhi International Airport and escorted them to the resort amid tight security.

The authorities have ensured that outsiders do not have 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 till February 11. Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy is likely to meet them after his return from Jharkhand where he reached on Monday to participate in Congress Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra.

The MLAs were moved from Patna to Hyderabad amid poaching fears ahead of the trust vote in Bihar Assembly on February 12. As the newly formed National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government has to prove its majority, some Congress leaders have voiced the apprehension that BJP or JD (U) may try to lure Congress MLAs.

The Congress party is the second largest constituent of ‘Mahagathbandhan’ which lost power after Chief Minister and JD (U) president Nitish Kumar returned to the NDA. The Congress party has 19 MLAs in Bihar. Three remaining MLAs are also likely to reach Hyderabad later in a day or two.

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

Jharkhand’s new government led by Champai Soren proved its majority in the state Assembly on Monday. JMM leader Champai Soren took oath as Jharkhand Chief Minister on Friday, two days after the arrest of Hemant Soren by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a money laundering case.