The strength of ruling BJP in the Manipur Assembly rose to 28 on Friday after the lone Trinamool Congress MLA and four Congress MLAs switched sides.

Robindfro Singh, who won the elections in Trinamool Congress ticket, joined BJP on Friday. Congress MLAs Y. Surchandra, N. Haokip, O. Lukhoi and S. Bira too joined the ruling party on Friday. In the past T. Shyamkumar and G. Insuanhao Zou from Congress joined BJP.

The BJP won 21 seats in the 60 member House during the recent elections. Falling short of nine MLAs to reach the halfway mark, it formed a coalition government with the support of splinter parties.

Reacting to the development, Chief Minister N. Biren Singh said, “It shows that more and more MLAs trust the leadership of Narendra Modi.”