Ranchi | MLAs of the opposition NDA in Jharkhand were moved to a hotel here on Tuesday, two days before the polls to two Rajya Sabha seats in Jharkhand, a source in the alliance said.

BJP leaders said the 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.

The majority of NDA MLAs shifted to the hotel till filing of the report.

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.”

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.