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2 Manipur leaders join BJP from Congress months before assembly polls
BJP leader Sarbananda Sonowal welcomed them into the party and asserted that the northeast regions have established their identity under the Modi government which has ensured that Union ministers and bureaucrats regularly visit the area to address issues facing it.
In a jolt to Congress months before assembly elections, two of its lawmakers in Manipur joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday. Both Rajkumar Imo Singh and Yamthong Haokip expressed confidence that the BJP will win the upcoming assembly polls in the state.
Both the politicians joined the BJP in the presence of Union minister Sarbananda Sonowal and the party's in-charge for Manipur Sambit Patra.
Singh comes from a notable political family in the state, which is associated with the Congress. He was elected on a Congress ticket but was expelled from the party for his alleged anti-party activities.
He told reporters that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has done a lot of work for the country's prosperity, peace and stability.
His father Rajkumar Jaichandra Singh was Manipur's chief minister and the first Union minister from the state.
Sonowal welcomed them into the party and asserted that the northeast regions have established their identity under the Modi government which has ensured that Union ministers and bureaucrats regularly visit the area to address issues facing it.
The BJP had come to power in the state for the first time in 2017.
At the national executive committee meeting on Sunday, the leaders of the BJP passd a resolution which predicted a big win for the party in upcoming assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur on the planks of development and the party's organisational strength.
The resolution praised the leadership and policies of PM Modi and the central government for delivering corruption-free governance with emphasis on digital payments and transparency.
Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that the resolution appreciated the "methodical way" in which India's image was shaped abroad and also condemned how the Opposition indulged in politics of opportunism.
