Four Congress MLAs Switch to BJP in Manipur

GUWAHATI: The Manipur unit of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has gained strength with four more Congress legislators joining the party. Congress, which won 28 seats in the recent Assembly polls, had earlier lost two MLAs to the BJP.

On Friday, Ngamthang Haokip, Y Surchandra Singh, S Bira Singh and O Lukhoi Singh joined the saffron party in the presence of Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh and Himanta Biswa Sarma, convener of BJP-floated Northeast Democratic Alliance (NEDA), a platform of non-Congress parties.

Earlier, Congress MLAs Shyamkumar Singh, now a minister in the BJP-led coalition government, and Ginsuanhau had moved to the BJP.

On March 15, N Biren Singh was sworn in as the chief minister. In the 60-member Assembly, BJP mastered support of four MLAs each from the National People's Party (NPP) and the Naga Peoples Front, and one MLA from Ram Vilas Paswan’s Lok Janshakti Party (LJP).

The BJP had 21 MLAs. Together with one MLA from All-India Trinamool Congress, the BJP-led government in the state now enjoys the support of 38 MLAs. Biren Singh has recently said that some Congress leaders were trying to destabilise his government.