The central leadership of Janata Dal-United (JDU) has overturned the decision of its Manipur state president to withdraw support from N Biren Singh-led BJP government and removed him from the post.

In a letter addressed to the Governor of Manipur on Wednesday, JDU Manipur president K Biren Singh conveyed the party’s decision to sever ties with the BJP.

Advertisement

The decision did not pose an immediate threat to the BJP government in Manipur. However, it shocked the political circle in Patna. As Bihar assembly election is due later this year, people kept speculating about the next move of JDU chief Nitish Kumar till evening when clarification came from the party.

JDU Spokesperson Rajeev Rajan Prasad addressed the media in the evening and termed the news ‘misleading and baseless’. He stressed that the party will continue to support the NDA government in Manipur.

He also said that the JDU Manipur unit didn’t communicate with the central leadership on the issue. Considering it as indiscipline, action has been taken against the Manipur JDU chief and he has been relieved from the post.

JDU Manipur President K Biren Singh’s letter had outlined the party’s grievances, beginning with the defection of six JDU candidates to the BJP after the 2022 state assembly elections. This was followed by the defection of five additional JDU MLAs, a matter that remains unresolved with a trial under the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution of India still pending before the Speaker’s Tribunal.

He had further clarified that the party’s lone MLA in the Manipur Assembly, Md Abdul Nasir, would now sit on the opposition benches.