The BJP on Monday announced the names of 31 candidates for the March 4 and 8 Assembly elections in Manipur. The remaining candidates are likely to be announced shortly. The party will be contesting all the 60 constituencies in the State. Meanwhile, two Congress MLAs, Nemcha Kipgen and Vungazin Valte, resigned from the membership of the House and the party and have formally joined the BJP. In a further jolt to Congress, Sagolshem Achouba, Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) vice-president and the chairman of the Khadi Board, who had represented the Congress four times in polls, also resigned. Some party functionaries too have resigned. Congress party sources, however, downplayed the sequence of events. BJP sources said that more Congress MLAs may resign soon. — A Correspondent