‘They want to reach out to the people’

Less than a week after the Congress lost Manipur’s two parliamentary seats, 12 MLAs of the party on Wednesday resigned from their posts in the Pradesh Congress Committee.

Speculation on

Their resignation triggered speculation about their possible defection to the Bharatiya Janata Party which heads a coalition government in the State.

Eight of the 28 Congress MLAs had joined the BJP around the time the coalition was forged.

Govindas Konthoujam, one of the 12 MLAs who gave up party posts, said their move did not mean leaving the Congress.

“There is no question of us joining the BJP for personal or political gains,” he said.

K. Ranjit, another MLA, said they would now focus on strengthening the party from the grassroots level while K. Joykishan said they quit their posts owning moral responsibility for failing to help the Congress retain the Lok Sabha seats.

“They have just relinquished their posts of office-bearers for concentrating on reaching out to the people,” said Congress spokesperson Ningombam Bupenda Meitei.