Nitish Kumar’s JD(U) Withdraws Support To BJP-Led Manipur Govt; Is It A Message Before Bihar Polls?

Imphal: The Janata Dal (United) state unit in Manipur on Wednesday withdrew support to the BJP-led Biren Singh government in the northeastern state, PTI reported.

Md Abdul Nasir, the lone JD(U) MLA in Manipur, will henceforth sit in Opposition benches in the Assembly.

However, it won’t affect the Biren government as the BJP has the numbers — 37 seats in the 60-member assembly. The government also has the support of five MLAs of Naga People’s Front and three Independents.

Nitish Kumar-headed JD(U)’s decision is ironical as it is a key ally of the BJP-led NDA Central government. Also, JD(U) and BJP are partners in the Bihar government.

With Assembly elections due in Bihar later this year (October-November), some are interpreting this as a message being conveyed by Nitish to the BJP central leadership.

“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) chief Ksh Biren Singh stated 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“After JD(U) became part of INDIA bloc, support to the BJP led government was withdrawn by JD(U)… as such, seating arrangement of the lone MLA of JD(U) in Manipur Md Abdul Nasir is made in the opposition bench in the last session of the Assembly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 added.