GUWAHATI: The Congress in Manipur suffered yet another blow after four party MLAs defected to the ruling BJP on Friday in the presence of the State’s top brass, including chief minister N Biren Singh.
MLAs Y Surchandra, Ngamthang Haokip, O Lukhoi and S Bira joined the saffron party at a function which was also attended among others by Assam minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, who is also the convener of non-Congress North East Democratic Alliance (NEDA).
The chief minister said it was evident from the defections by the MLAs that people trusted the BJP-led government.
“People want a stable government. I have no doubt that their joining the BJP is a step forward towards achieving this,” he said.
Earlier, two other Congress MLAs, T Shyamkumar and Ginsuanhau Zou had defected to the BJP. In fact, Shyamkumar had worn saffron even while the party was looking to garner the support of MLAs to be able to form the government last month. The BJP duly rewarded him by making him a cabinet minister.
In the two-phase March elections, the Congress had grabbed 28 seats to emerge the single largest party followed by the BJP which won 21 seats. But with support from allies Naga People’s Front (NPF), National People’s Party (NPP) and Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) besides a Trinamool Congress MLA, an independent and Shyamkumar, the BJP had formed the government.
The Trinamool Congress MLA only recently “merged” with the BJP. Following the latest defection of four Congress MLAs, the BJP’s tally has gone up to 28 while the strength of the coalition government has risen to 38 in the 60-member Manipur House. The Congress is down to 22.
Buoyed by its sterling performance in Assam and Manipur, the BJP has now set its sights on Congress-ruled Meghalaya and Left-ruled Tripura. The party does not have a single MLA in these two States, which will go to polls next year but is optimistic about its prospects.
After visiting Meghalaya recently, Himanta Biswa Sarma exuded confidence that BJP would be able to form the government in the State with support from its allies.