Patna, July 22: BJP leaders claimed that the party is hale and hearty a day after the state unit suspended its MLA Amarnath Gami for “anti-party activities”.

The claims come after reports emerged that many more would follow the Gami line.

“The party is hale and hearty. Though there are a couple of MLAs who are being lured away. They are being offered ministerial posts and their relatives, too, are being promised seats in the Legislative Council by the JD(U),” state BJP president Mangal Pandey said on Monday.

The BJP state president challenged chief minister Nitish Kumar for an early cabinet expansion.

“Nitish Kumar, who is at present holding 18 portfolios, is afraid of expanding his cabinet. This is because he knows that the day he decides to go for a cabinet expansion, the party will split,” Pandey said.

The party chief added that there are more than a dozen JD(U) MLAs in contact with the BJP leadership who are ready to switchover.

“If our one wicket falls, we would ensure two of their (JDU) wickets fall too,” Pandey said, explaining how one switchover from the BJP to the JD(U) would cost the latter dear. The JD(U) appears all set to fish in troubled waters.

Agriculture minister Narendra Singh declared that 47 of the 91 BJP MLAs were ready to switchover to the JD(U).