Srinagar: Another batch of four Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) Members of Legislative Assembly (MLAs) from Uttar Pradesh arrived in Srinagar on June 3 to join their nine colleagues already here to foil any "poaching" bid by the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP)-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government following withdrawal of their party's support to the Mayawati government.

Four RLD MLAs, who arrived in Srinagar are Pratap Choudhry, Virendra Singh, Ranveer Singh and Kuka Bhai Hamid, sources said.

All the 13 MLAs were reportedly headed for places of tourist interest like the Mughal garden. They might go to Pahalgam health resort later in the day, the sources said.

Headed by Samar Paul Singh, the MLAs who arrived on June 2 drove straight to a five-star hotel overlooking the world famous Dal Lake, the sources said.

Besides Singh, the group comprising Choudhary Babu Lal, Jaswant Singh, Tej Paul, Ganga Prasad Pushkar, Ajay Kumar, Prem Singh, Raj Paul Singh and Swami Omvesh were sent here following fears that up Chief Minister Mayawati might try to effect a defection to overcome the crisis.

The 14-member RLD withdrew support to the Mayawati government last week after RLD chief Ajit Singh resigned from the Union Cabinet, plunging the BSP-BJP coalition in crisis.

The RLD MLAs arrived in Srinagar a day after Congress president Sonia Gandhi concluded her three- day visit to the valley, during which the party assessed the working of her Chief Ministers at a two-day conclave. She had said her party was not averse to joining hands with Mulayam Singh's Samajwadi Party and RLD to counter the BSP-BJP led coalition in UP.

PTI