Ahead of the Rajya Sabha elections for two seats in Jharkhand, MLAs from the state’s Opposition National Democratic Alliance were moved to a hotel in Ranchi, while legislators from the ruling INDIA bloc participated in training exercises and a mock poll at Chief Minister Hemant Soren’s residence on Tuesday, PTI reported.

The election on Thursday will be contested by Jharkhand Mukti Morcha candidate Baidyanath Ram, Congress nominee Pranav Jha and Bharatiya Janata Party-backed Independent candidate Parimal Nathwani.

A candidate requires at least 28 first-preference votes to win.

The INDIA bloc has 56 MLAs, including 34 from the JMM, 16 from the Congress, four from the Rashtriya Janata Dal and two from Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) Liberation. The Jharkhand Loktantrik Krantikari Morcha has one MLA.

The BJP-led NDA has 24 MLAs in the 81-member Jharkhand Assembly, comprising 21 BJP legislators and one each from the Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas), All Jharkhand Students Union Party and Janata Dal (United).

Thus, the NDA does not currently have the numbers to secure Nathwani’s election without support from outside the alliance or cross-voting.

“All the MLAs have been called here for the training purpose,” The Hindu quoted BJP MLA from Barkagaon Roshan Lal Choudhary as saying. “We will stay here for two days and will directly go to the Assembly for the voting on June 18.”

Leader of Opposition Babulal Marandi said the alliance would hold meetings, while BJP chief whip Naveen Jaiswal said a series of discussions and training sessions had been planned, particularly for newly elected MLAs.

“There are several new MLAs,” PTI quoted Jaiswal as saying. “So, a training programme has also been arranged where they would impart training regarding the poll exercise.”

Meanwhile, the INDIA bloc held a meeting at the chief minister’s residence, where legislators were briefed on the voting process, according to PTI.

Congress leader and state Parliamentary Affairs Minister Radhakrishna Kishore said a mock poll was conducted as part of the training exercise.

According to Kishore, the JMM received 29 votes and the Congress nominee received 27 votes in the mock ballot.

Congress MLA Pardip Yadav said another meeting would be held at the chief minister's residence on Wednesday as well.

The election is being held to fill two vacancies. One seat became vacant following the death of JMM co-founder Shibu Soren, while the other is due for voting as BJP member Deepak Prakash’s Rajya Sabha term ends on June 21.

Edited by Neerad Pandharipande.