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After 2 legislators, another Manipur MLA announces joining BJP
MLA Karam Shyam who represents Langthabal assembly constituency in Imphal West District made the announcement on Monday
Close on the heels of two legislators joining the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ahead of assembly elections, another legislator from Manipur, elected on a Lok Janshakti Party ticket in state assembly elections in 2017, also announced that he will join the BJP on November 11. Manipur is due for assembly elections early next year.
MLA Karam Shyam who represents Langthabal assembly constituency in Imphal West District made the announcement while speaking to reporters at his residence at Chajing Mairenkhong in Imphal West District on Monday.
Terming the “grassroot” initiatives taken up by Prime Minister Narendra Modi as remarkable, former cabinet minister Shyam said, “As I have no party or flag, I have decided to join BJP and I will take a bigger responsibility to make BJP a successful and powerful party in future.”
On Monday, two Manipur legislators - RK Imo Singh, who represents the Sagolband constituency in Imphal West district, and Yamthong Haokip, who was elected from the Saikul assembly segment in Kangpokpi district - joined the BJP in presence of party leaders in the national capital.
Both Imo and Haokip were elected on a Congress ticket in the 2017 assembly elections. Imo was expelled from the Congress in August last year for anti-party activities while Yamthong was still with Congress before he joined BJP on Monday.
With Monday’s political development, the Congress, which won a total of 28 seats to emerge as the single largest party in the 60-member Manipur house after the 2017 polls, is down to 15 legislators in the assembly. On the other hand, the ruling BJP’s strength in the assembly has gone up to 25. But the state assembly is yet to make an official version in this regard.
It may be mentioned that the former Congress legislators started to join BJP in August last year after five Congress MLAs joined the party. It was followed by the former state Congress unit chief Govindas Konthoujam on August 1.
