PATNA: The opposition RJD in Bihar on Wednesday reclaimed its status as the single largest party by weaning away all but one of the five MLAs of the AIMIM.
Leader of the opposition Tejashwi Yadav brought the four legislators to the state assembly, driving the car himself, and met Speaker Vijay Kumar Sinha to inform him about their formal decision to break away from Asaduddin Owaisi's party and merge with the RJD.
The MLAs, Mohd Izhar Arfi, Shahnawaz Alam, Rukanuddin Ahmed and Anzaar Naimi, who joined Yadav's RJD, raised the party's strength to 80 in the 243-strong assembly.
The RJD now has three more than the BJP which shares power with Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's JD(U).
The Hyderabad MP's party which made a splash in the 2020 assembly polls by winning five seats is now left with only Akhtarul Iman, who is the AIMIM's state president.