2 Arunachal Congress MLAs leave party and join BJP

Itanagar: Serving advantage to BJP ahead of Lok Sabha polls this year, two Congress MLAs from Arunachal Pradesh joined the saffron party on Sunday, PTI reported.

Also, two legislators left the National People's Party (NPP) and joined the BJP on the day.

The Congress and NPP now have two MLAs each in the 60-member assembly.

Senior Congress MLA and former union minister Ninong Ering (Pasighat West seat) and Wanglin Lowangdong (Borduria-Bogapani constituency) joined the saffron party during a function at its headquarters here.

NPP's Mutchu Mithi (Roing seat) and Gokar Basar (Basar constituency) also became a part of the BJP at the event, which was attended by Chief Minister Pema Khandu.

Saturday, a three-time Congress MLA from Tamil Nadu, S Vijayadharani, left the party and joined the BJP, claiming that women are not given leadership roles in the former. She is the MLA from Kanyakumari's Vilavancode

Last week, four-time MLA and former minister of Rajasthan, Mahendrajeet Singh Malviya l left the party and joined BJP. He said there is a double-engine government in Rajasthan, referring to the BJP dispensations in the state and at the Centre.

Around two weeks back, Ashok Chavan, former chief minister of Maharashtra, joined the BJP just a day after resigning from the Congress. Former Jammu and Kashmir MLC Shahnaz Ganai also joined the BJP around the same time. She was once linked with Farooq Abdullah's National Conference (NC).

With Sunday's development, the BJP now has 53 MLAs in the House, while three independent MLAs extend outside support to the government.

The Lok Sabha elections and assembly polls will be simultaneously held in the northeastern state later this year.