Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren, along with 49 lawmakers, left the state capital Ranchi on Saturday amid a political crisis triggered by the allegations he had allocated a mining lease to himself in 2021.
According to local media reports, the bus arrived at a resort in the Khunti district, around 40 km from Ranchi; they were reportedly seen going for a boat ride in a lake near the Latratu dam.
Indian media reports suggest that legislators seem unaware of whether they'll stay at Khunti, move to another destination or return to Ranchi.
"All ministers and lawmakers are together... We'll go to other places too, and I don't know where we will go next. Several things are in motion right now," minister Satyanand Bhakta told reporters.
In the 81-member Jharkhand Assembly, the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) has 30 lawmakers, while its ally, Congress, has 18 members and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) has one. The main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party has 26 lawmakers; three belong to local parties, while two others are independent.
Jharkhand's ruling alliance is also called the United Progressive Alliance (UPA).
According to Indian media, the Election Commission of India (ECI) on Thursday recommended that State Governor Ramesh Bias suspend Hemant Soren's membership in the Jharkhand legislative assembly over an office-of-profit complaint that the state chief had allotted a mine to himself.
An office-of-profit is a government position one uses in order to obtain influence in order to procure financial gains or benefits.
The state chief seems to be violating Section 9A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, which can disqualify him.
Soren, for his part, said that the state government had made a mistake, and the mining lease had been surrendered in February this year.
However, Soren said that he had not received such a letter or communication so far. Soren's disqualification meant that he has to resign as a lawmaker, but he could be state chief for the next six months and needed to get re-elected within six months.