The Janata Dal (United) on Wednesday withdrew its support to the BJP-led government in Manipur where ethnic clashes have claimed more than 250 people in the last one and a half years.
JD(U) said its lone MLA, Md Abdul Nasir, will sit in the opposition benches. The party had won six seats in the 2022 assembly elections, but five MLAs later switched to the BJP.
"In the election to state assembly of Manipur held in February/ March 2022, six candidates set up by JD (U) were returned. After a few months, five MLAs of JD (U) defected to BJP. Trial under Tenth Schedule of India of the five MLAs is pending before the Speaker's Tribunal," JD(U) state president Ksh Biren Singh said in a letter to Governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla.
“After JD (U) became part of India Bloc, support to the BJP led government was withdrawn by JD(U)... as such, seating arrangement of the lone MLA of JD(U) in Manipur Md Abdul Nasir is made in the opposition bench in the last session of the Assembly by the Speaker," the letter further said.
The development will, however, pose no threat to the Biren Singh government as the BJP has 37 seats in the 60-member assembly. Five MLAs of the Naga People's Front and three independents also support the government.
Interestingly, the JD(U), led by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, is an ally of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance at the Centre. The JD(U) is also in alliance with the saffron party in Bihar where assembly elections are due this year.