: In a setback to the BJP in poll-bound Manipur, K. Joykishan, leader of the BJP legislature wing in the Assembly, resigned from the party on Wednesday and joined the Congress. He said the step was in protest against the indifference of the Modi government to the crisis facing Manipur in the wake of the continuing road blockades.
“I was in contact with the national leaders [of the party] for the last five days on the sufferings of the people. However, there was no response from them.” This attitude, he said, prompted him to leave the party.
Mr. Joykishan is a National Executive member of the BJP. There was no immediate word on whether he would resign from the Assembly as well.
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Manipur is expected to go to the polls in the first half of 2017. With Mr. Joykishan’s resignation, the BJP has only one member in the 60-member State Assembly, where the Congress has a preponderant majority.
Land-locked Manipur has been facing severe hardships with the supply of essential items hit since November 1, when the United Naga Council (UNC) imposed an indefinite economic blockade on the two national highways that serve as lifelines for the State. The blockade was imposed following the State government’s announcement of the formation of seven new districts, four of which have been inaugurated.