RANCHI: JMM and Congress MLAs from Jharkhand who were moved to a resort in Raipur in a chartered plane on Tuesday evening spent the day unwinding, away from media glare.
"The resort has several recreational facilities but most of us spent the day relaxing and having candid discussions. The ministers were busy going through the files of their respective departments ahead of Thursday's cabinet meeting while the MLAs mostly caught up with each other," Congress legislative party leader and rural affairs minister Alamgir Alam told TOI over phone. Alam and other Congress ministers returned to Ranchi in the evening.
"There is nothing much to do here. The rooms are good and everything is fine, but frankly, it has started to seem like a five star prison as we cannot go out of the campus," said a Congress functionary who is a part of the contingent camping in Raipur.
Rejecting the viral videos which claimed boxes of liquor were being moved to the resort ahead of their arrival, Alam said: "This is all rubbish."
"Ek din k liye to hume chhor do (spare us for one day at least)," said a woman lawmaker from Congress when contacted. "Itna accha view hai idhar, lake hai. Abhi tak to thik he lag raha hai (This place has such a nice view, a beautiful lake. It feels okay until this point," she added.
The political contingent, which reached Raipur airport around 5:30 pm on Tuesday, headed to the resort straight away. "Our luggage was given to us after we checked in and everyone went to their rooms. All of us assembled at dinner around 9 pm and thereafter, all went to sleep," another MLA said. The MLAs and the ministers had a visitor in Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel at the dinner table. "He came, exchanged pleasantries with all of us and assured us that we will be taken care of well during our stay here. After around 30 minutes, he left," the lawmaker added.
While a large media contingent waited outside the resort's main gates to catch their glimpse, several MLAs took a boat ride in the adjoining lake while some others strolled along its banks.
When asked when they were going to return, a JMM MLA said: "The ministers are going to return by Thursday morning because of the cabinet. But it seems that we have to stay here for two more days at least. We do not know what is going to happen in the next couple of days."
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