PATNA: After being relegated to being the junior partner in the government, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has been served fresh humiliation on Friday when six of the seven JDU legislators in Arunachal Pradesh defected to the BJP. The JDU now has just one MLA in the 60-member Arunachal Assembly. Along with an MLA of the People’s Party of Arunachal, the BJP now has 48 members.
The JDU MLAs who quit are Hayeng Mangfi, Jikke Tako, Dongru Siongju, Talem Taboh, Kanggong Taku and Dorjee Wangdi Kharma. Three of them had been suspended and served notices last month for anti-party activity after they chose a legislative party leader allegedly without consulting the state JDU chief.
The BJP’s state unit chief Biyuram Wahge said the development proved people’s faith and trust in the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Pema Khandu.
Those close to Nitish Kumar are extremely upset at what is being seen as the BJP’s betrayal and this is set to come up during the two-day National Council meeting of the Janata Dal United this weekend. The JDU and BJP are not partners in Arunachal and Nitish Kumar’s party is in the Opposition in the state, but it supports the BJP-led government.
The JDU became a recognised state party in Arunachal Pradesh just last year, after winning seven seats in the state and placing second after the BJP, which was the largest party with 41 seats.
JDU leader K.C. Tyagi on Friday said that six of seven party MLAs joining the ruling BJP in Arunachal Pradesh was “unfortunate” and “not necessary” and that the party was “friendly opposition” in the state.
“We were in friendly Opposition in Arunachal Pradesh. There was no danger to the state government by our MLAs. I think it was not necessary. Whatever happened is unfortunate,” Tyagi, who is also party spokesperson, told ANI.
Himanta Biswa Sarma, the BJP’s go-to man in the Northeast, said: “The six JDU MLAs in Arunachal Pradesh who had switched over, were originally from the BJP. They had contested the elections on JDU ticket under a special arrangement. Perhaps, the JDU leadership was well aware of it. So it’s not a conflict zone.”
The strength of the 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 jolt to Nitish Kumar after he retained the job of Bihar Chief Minister in recent polls after his party was reduced to the position of a junior partner in the state coalition. In the October-November election, the NDA’s majority in the 243-member Assembly was powered by the BJP’s 74 seats. The JDU finished at number 3—after Tejashwi Yadav’s RJD and BJP—with its tally dropping to 43 from 71 in 2015.
With agency inputs