Patna, Feb 5 (IANS): In a bid to forestall any poaching, the Congress on Sunday sent 16 out of its 19 MLAs in Bihar to Hyderabad.

The Congress has 19 MLAs in Bihar and three - Sidhartha, Abidur Rahman and Vijay Shankar Dubey - have not gone due to health reasons.

On Saturday, the Congress top leadership had called its Bihar MLAs to to Delhi where they met party President Mallikarjun Kharge. Following that, they were sent to Hyderabad on Sunday on a chartered plane.

They are expected to return to Patna on the day of the floor test of NItish Kumar government scheduled on February 12 during the Budget session.

The Congress top leadership feared that its MLAs in Bihar may be poached and hence, the top leadership called them to Delhi.

Congress MLA from Bhagalpur Ajit Sharma said that he and other party MLAs of his party went to Hyderabad.

RJD leader Lalu Prasad Yadav had also asked the Congress leadership to keep tabs on its MLAs after the formation of the NDA government on January 28 but as the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra of Rahul Gandhi was about to reach the state's Kishanganj the next day, they stayed in the state till January 31 and went to Jharkhand followed by Delhi and now Hyderabad.