Manipur: Five of six JD(U) MLAs merge with BJP

Guwahati: Five of seven MLAs of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal (United) in Manipur joined the ruling BJP on Friday, a statement from the state assembly said.

The statement signed by Manipur Assembly Secretary K Meghajit Singh said that the Speaker was pleased to accept the merger of five JDU MLAs with the BJP. Since the number of MLAs who switched sides was greater than two-thirds of the total, their switch will be considered valid.

Soon after the valid merger of Manipur JD(U) MLAs with the BJP, MP Sushil Modi took a jibe at the Bihar chief minister saying states like Manipur and Arunachal have become "JD(U)-mukt".

Among the JD(U) MLAs, who joined the BJP ahead of the saffron outfit's crucial national executive meeting in Patna, include Khumukcham Singh, Ngursanglur Sanate, Achab Uddin, Thangjam Arun Kumar, and LM Khaute.

The JDU had won six of the 38 constituencies it had contested in the assembly elections held in March this year.

Khaute and Arunkumar had previously sought to contest the assembly polls for the BJP but joined the JDU after being turned down by the party.

This is the second time the BJP targeted the Nitish Kumar party's legislators in the northeast. In 2020, six of seven JDU legislators joined the BJP in Arunachal Pradesh and last week the lone MLA also merged with BJP.

The development came after on August 9, Janata Dal (United) chairperson and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar severed ties with the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance in Bihar.

He had joined forces with Tejashwi Yadav's Rashtriya Janata Dal, the Congress, and other parties, displacing the BJP from the co-pilot's seat in Bihar.