How the late night drama in Manipur got BJP the numbers

It was a surprising turn of events in Manipur with the BJP staking a claim to form the next government in the state. The drama played on till late into the night on Sunday.

The BJP since Saturday sounded confident that it would form the government in Manipur. The Congress has been crying foul over not being invited to form the government despite it being the single largest party with 28 seats. The BJP has 21 MLAs.

Before the Congress could even stake a claim to form the government, several members moved into the BJP's camp which gave the party the numbers to form the government and also get an invitation from the Governor. Several Congress MLAs and the lone Trinamool Congress MLA Tongbram Robindro Singh moved over to the BJP camp.

Prior to this development the BJP had the support of the Lok Janshakti Party from Langthabal, four candidates each from the National People's Party and the Nagaland People's Front. This changed the number game dramatically for the Congress. The party leaders met with the Governor and staked a claim, but it is falling short of 2 MLAs to get to the magic number of 31 in the 60 member house.

OneIndia News