Five ex-Congress MLAs of Manipur, who recently resigned from the state assembly and the party, joined the ruling BJP on Wednesday in the presence of Chief Minister N Biren Singh.
A sixth MLA could not be present for the induction.
Henry Okram, nephew of former chief minister and senior Congress leader Ibobi Singh, Panonam Broken, Oinam Lukhoi Singh, Ngamthang Haokip and Ginsuanhau Zou were inducted into the BJP by Panda.
Panda said the state government has the support of 34 MLAs in the Assembly, which has an effective strength of 47 as there are 13 vacancies.
Earlier this month the Biren Singh’s BJP government sailed through a trust vote after proving its majority with a comfortable margin of 28-16 during a special assembly session held on August 10.
The Chief Minister had arrived in Delhi with the former Congress MLAs who resigned both from the party and the Assembly after skipping the trust vote proceedings in defiance of a party whip.
