After having sailed through an easy trust vote earlier this month, Manipur Chief Minister N. Biren Singh on Sunday left for New Delhi by a chartered flight along with one Congress MLA and six ex-MLAs of the party to pave the way for their induction into the BJP.
The six ex-Congress MLAs were among the eight legislators who had skipped the proceedings defying the party whip for the trust vote held during the single-day session of the assembly on August 10.
The lone present Congress MLA who accompanied Biren Singh was his son-in-law R.K. Imo Singh.
Before leaving, Biren Singh said that he and the present and former Congress MLAs will meet the BJP central leadership in the national capital to personally introduce and to invite them to join the party.
The BJP-led government of Biren Singh had won the trust vote by a comfortable margin of 28-16 on August 10 and the six Congress leaders had submitted their resignation from the Assembly soon after it. They quit the party the next day.
The six ex-Congress MLAs are Okram Henry Singh, Oinam Lukhoi Singh, Md Abdul Nasir, Ngamthang Haokip, Ginsuanhau and Paonam Brojen.
Okram Henry Singh is the nephew of Congress Legislature Party leader Okram Ibobi Singh.
Congress, which had won a total of 28 seats to emerge as the single largest party in the 60-member Manipur house after the 2017 polls, saw members deserting it from time to time. Soon after the election, one of its legislator Thounaojam Shyamkumar was disqualified under the anti-defection law for joining BJP.
Further, three Congress MLAs—Kshetrimayum Biren Singh, Yengkhom Surchandra Singh and Sanasam Bira Singh—were disqualified from membership of Manipur Assembly by the speaker.
The six who accompanied the chief minister are the latest additions to the list.
