Itanagar, Aug 27: The lone Janata Dal (United) MLA in Arunachal Pradesh, Techi Kaso has joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Twenty six other prominent people also joined the ruling party today.
Kaso, who joined on Wednesday (Aug 24), said, "We are joining BJP as we are impressed by the work done by Modi ji." Deputy Speaker of the Arunachal Pradesh Vidhan Sabha, Tessam Pongte, welcomed the joining of Kaso, who is the MLA from Itanagar, in the BJP. Kaso joined the BJP in the presence of National President Jagat Prakash Nadda.
With Kaso joining the BJP, the party's strength in the Arunachal Pradesh has increased to 49 in a House of 60. Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar-led JD(U) had fielded candidates for 15 seats in the 2019 Arunachal Pradesh Assembly elections, of which it could win seven seats, thus emerging as the second largest party in the state after BJP.
The BJP won the Assembly elections in 2019 with 41 seats. Six MLAs from JD(U) joined BJP on December 25, 2020. Opposition Congress and BJP's ally National People's Party (NPP) also have four MLAs each in the Assembly. The Arunachal Pradesh assembly also has three independent MLAs who continue to support the ruling party in the State.