BSP MLA in Bihar joins Nitish Kumar's JD(U); Independent pledges support

Theparty had fielded about a dozen candidates in the recentassembly elections, none of whom won.Singh belongs to a politically influential Rajputfamily of Jamui, the Lok Sabha seat of Lok Janshakti PartyChirag Paswan, whom the JDU desperately wants to cut to sizein the wake of his rebellion in the assembly polls, which costthe party dearly.Khans move comes as an embarrassment to BSP chiefMayawati, who had fought the assembly polls in Bihar as partof a multi-party coalition headed by former Union ministerUpendra Kushwahas RLSP.

Bihar Chief Minister NitishKumar's JD(U) on Friday received a shot in the arm with thelone BSP MLA in the state joining his party and an Independentlegislator pledging full support to his government.

Chainpur MLA Jama Khan, who won the seat on a BSPticket, merged his party into the JD(U), while Sumit KumarSingh, who represents Chakai and has supported the ruling NDAsince the formation of the new government in November lastyear, declared that he would continue to do so for the rest ofthe term.

Talking to reporters after calling on the chiefminister, the MLAs, both of them in their 40s, expressed theiradmiration for Nitish Kumar's model of governance anddevelopment.

With the induction of the BSP MLA, the strength of theJD(U) in the assembly has reached 44.

Speculations are rife that both Khan and Singh couldbe included in the state cabinet, the expansion of which islikely in near future.

Khan becomes the lone Muslim MLA of the JD(U). Theparty had fielded about a dozen candidates in the recentassembly elections, none of whom won.

Singh belongs to a politically influential Rajputfamily of Jamui, the Lok Sabha seat of Lok Janshakti PartyChirag Paswan, whom the JD(U) desperately wants to cut to sizein the wake of his rebellion in the assembly polls, which costthe party dearly.

Khan's move comes as an embarrassment to BSP chiefMayawati, who had fought the assembly polls in Bihar as partof a multi-party coalition headed by former Union ministerUpendra Kushwaha's RLSP. The grouping also included AsaduddinOwaisi's AIMIM.

While the RLSP had drawn a blank, the AIMIM ended upwinning five seats, all of these in the Seemanchal regionwhere it substantially damaged the Grand Alliance comprisingthe RJD, the Congress and the Left.

In the assembly elections, the NDA comprising the JD(U), the BJP, the HAM and the VIP had won a slender majority.

The Grand Alliance had fallen short of the majoritymark of 122 by about a dozen seats.

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