Fri. Mar 29th, 2024
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar

Patna: Six of the seven legislators of Nitish Kumar led Janata Dal-United (JDU) in Arunachal Pradesh (AP) have joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

The JDU MLAs who leave the party are Hayeng Mangfi, Jakke Tako, Dongru Siongju, Talem Taboh, Kanggong Taku, and Dorjee Wangdi Kharma. Three of them had been suspended for anti-party activity and served notices last month.

Now, JDU has only one MLA left in the 60-member Arunachal assembly. However, with an MLA of the People’s Party of Arunachal, the BJP now has 48 members.

The NDTV reported, Biyuram Wahge, state chief of BJP said the development proved people’s confidence and trust in the administration of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Pema Khandu.

Those near Nitish Kumar are incredibly angry with what is being viewed as the BJP’s double-crossing and this is set to come up during the two-day National Council meeting of the Janata Dal-United this end of the week.

The JDU turned into a perceived state party in Arunachal Pradesh simply a year ago, in the wake of winning seven seats in the northeastern state and putting second after the BJP, which was the biggest party with 41 seats.

KC Tyagi, JDU quoted as saying by news agency PTI, “The tally entitles us to the status of the main opposition party. But we will offer full support to the BJP government in that state. Even if we get the opposition party status, we will be a friendly opposition.”

The strength of opposition has now gone down to 12, four each from Congress and National People’s Party, one from the JDU, and three Independents.

This is the second shock to Nitish Kumar after he returned Bihar Chief Minister in ongoing polls however was made profoundly mindful of his reduced status in the BJP-drove alliance.

In the October-November political race, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA’s) larger part in the 243-part get together was fueled by the BJP’s 74 seats. The JDU completed at number 3, after Tejashwi Yadav’s RJD and BJP, with its count dropping to 43 from 71 out of 2015.