Even as the Rajya Sabha elections for the two Rajya Sabha seats is going on in the Jharkhand Assembly, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) MLA Chamra Linda was on Saturday arrested in connection with a 2013 case in which he was allegedly involved in a scuffle.
Mr. Linda was facing an arrest warrant in a 2013 case, in which he had been allegedly involved in a scuffle at the Assembly gate in late evening hours, official sources said. Soon after the incident, an FIR was lodged and arrest warrant issued and pending afterwards, they said.
Two Congress MLAs, Nirmala Devi and Devendra Singh, are also facing arrest warrants in separate cases.
BJP strangling democracy: Congress
The BJP government in Jharkhand is getting arrest warrants issued against opposition legislators to prevent them from voting in the Rajya Sabha elections, the Congress said on Saturday.
The Raghubar Das government “is trying to strangle democracy by issuing warrants against legislators who have a right to vote”, Congress spokesman Ajay Kumar said in Ranchi.
“This is done at the instruction of the Central government,” he said.
There was much commotion on Friday night at Medica Hospital here, where Chamra Linda, a legislator from the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), is being treated.
The police reached the hospital with a warrant to arrest Mr. Linda in a case going back to 2013. The Congress and JMM leaders gathered at the hospital to oppose the arrest.
MLAs gone 'underground'
The police, on Friday, visited Mr. Devendra Singh’s home in Palamau district but could not find him there.
Informed sources said both Mr. Devendra Singh and Ms. Nirmala Devi have gone “underground”, but may turn up for voting.
Police personnel have been deployed outside the Assembly to arrest them.
Bitter fight
Voting for the two Rajya Sabha seats from the State began at 9 a.m.
Election Commission sources said 45 National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and 25 opposition legislators had voted till 11.45 a.m.
The NDA in Jharkhand comprises the BJP and the All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU).
There are three candidates in the elections for the two Rajya Sabha seats from Jharkhand, making it a bitter fight.
The Bharatiya Janata Party has fielded Central minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and industrialist Mahesh Poddar while the JMM has put up Basant Soren, son of party chief Shibu Soren.
