The Janata Dal (United) suffered a major setback in Manipur on Friday, when five of the state's six party MLAs defected and merged with the BJP.
Patna: The Janata Dal (United) and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar suffered a major setback in Manipur on Friday, when five of the state’s six party MLAs defected and merged with the BJP.
The incident took place weeks after Nitish Kumar’s party separated from the BJP in Bihar and broke ties with the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) alliance.
Prominent Bihar BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi took a jibe at the Bihar chief minister by stating that states like Manipur and Arunachal have become “JD(U)-mukt”. He said this after the formal merger of Manipur MLAs into the saffron party.
The JD(U) MLAs, who merged with the BJP, had taken this decision at a crucial national executive meeting held in Patna. Top leaders participated, including Khumukcham Singh, Ngursanglur Sanate, Achab Uddin, Thangjam Arun Kumar, and LM Khaute.
The Speaker of the Manipur Legislative Assembly has given his nod to the merger of Janata Dal United legislators into the BJP.
Nitish Kumar has to face a second blow in the last nine days. Earlier, on August 25, the lone JDU MLA, Teki Kaso in Arunachal Pradesh, went to the BJP camp in the presence of party national president JP Nadda.
The Janata Dal United won seven assembly seats in Arunachal Pradesh in 2019. Six JD (U) members had previously joined the BJP, while the seventh had decided to shake hands with the BJP on August 25.
