Five of the six Janata Dal (United) MLAs in Manipur have merged with the ruling BJP.
In a bulletin issued on Friday night, Manipur Assembly Secretary K. Meghajit Singh said Speaker Thokchom Satyabrata Singh accepted the merger under the 10th Schedule of the Constitution of India.
The five JD(U) legislators who joined the BJP are Khumukcham Joykisan Singh, representing the Thangmeiband constituency, Ngursanglur Sanate (Tipaimukh), Mohammed Achab Uddin (Jiribam), Thangjam Arunkumar (Wangkhei) and L.M. Khaute (Churachandpur).
The JD(U) had won six seats in the 60-member Manipur Assembly earlier this year and extended their support to the BJP government headed by Chief Minister Nongthombam Biren Singh.
The sixth JD(U) legislator who did not join the BJP is Mohammed Nasir, who was elected from the Lilong constituency.
The Opposition Congress slammed the decision of the five JD(U) lawmakers.
State Congress spokesperson Ningombam Bupenda Meitei in a tweet said: “Joining the JD-U MLAs to BJP is not only unconstitutional, but the act also attracts disqualification under the Constitution of India. There will be a move to the High Court to disqualify them. Save the Constitution, Save Democracy.”
In August, Techi Kaso, the lone JD(U) legislator in Arunachal Pradesh joined the BJP. His switchover followed the parting of ways between the JD(U) and the BJP in Bihar and the forging of a new alliance between Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Tejashwi Yadav of the RJD.
