As 40 MLAs of Jharkhand’s ruling alliance of JMM and Congress returned to Ranchi on Sunday night, ahead of the Assembly floor test the following day, 16 of Congress’s 19 MLAs in neighbouring Bihar were flown from Delhi to Hyderabad because of fear in the party about an attempt to split it ahead of the trust vote scheduled for February 12.

Though the Janata Dal (United), BJP, and the Hindustani Awam Morcha, with the support of an Independent, have 128 MLAs in the 253-member House, a clear majority, state Congress leaders said they were wary of the BJP trying to break away legislators to deal the Mahagathbandhan a crushing blow in the crucial battleground state. Any such move would mark a massive psychological victory for the BJP and further weaken the RJD-led alliance.

“We have been hearing for some time about the BJP trying to split our party. They were first called to Delhi by the high command,” said a Bihar Congress leader. Another state Congress functionary said the party had been apprehensive about a split since Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra travelled through the state on January 29 and 30.

Bihar Congress spokesperson Asit Nath Tiwari, confirming that the MLAs had been flown to Hyderabad, told The Indian Express, “Our MLAs, who went to Delhi, expressed their wish to visit our Hyderabad unit. They will be back in Patna after a few days.”

Senior BJP leader and Deputy CM Vijay Kumar Sinha said, “The Congress has been treating its MLAs like bonded labourers. The allegations against us are baseless, they should learn to trust their legislators.”

This is not the first time there has been buzz about the Bihar Congress. Last week, as Bihar CM and JD(U) president Nitish Kumar prepared to ditch the alliance, amid reports that a section of Congress MLAs in the state could not be contacted, the party decided to rush former Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel to Patna as a special observer.

Meanwhile, former CM and Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) leader Jitan Ram Manjhi on Sunday reiterated his demand for one more Cabinet berth for his party in the Nitish-led government. “We have asked for one more ministerial berth for our MLA Anil Singh. He is an experienced leader. Since lone Independent MLA Sumit Kumar Singh got a ministerial berth, our party with four MLAs has a right to demand two ministries.” Manjhi said the BJP’s top leaders were aware of his demand.