Former Mizoram Minister Buddha Dhan Chakma has quit the Congress party on Tuesday and is all set to join the BJP ahead of the 2018 Assembly elections. The polls are scheduled to take place on 28 November.
Chakma has resigned from the State legislature and the primary membership of the Mizoram Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC). His resignation has been accepted by the Speaker Hiphei. Chakma’s resignation came a day before the BJP president Amit Shah is going to start his party’s campaign in the frontier state of Mizoram.
He had resigned as minister of state for fisheries and sericulture in August 2017 to protest against the denial of medical seats to the Chakma tribal students, despite qualifying for MBBS seat under the state quota.
Chakma would be joining BJP and is likely to contest elections from Tuichawng on a BJP ticket, as told by Mizoram BJP unit President John V Hluna. After Chakma’s resignation, the Congress has suffered a major blow as three Congress MLAs have resigned from Congress ahead of assembly elections.
Earlier, former home minister R Lalzirliana and former minister Lalrinliana Sailo had resigned from the ruling Congress party.
Mizoram is the only state in the northeastern region where Congress is in power, and BJP, led by president Amit Shah and NEDA convenor Himanta Biswa Sharma is leaving no stone unturned to make the northeast ‘Congress-mukt’. Defections from other parties have helped BJP in growing and grabbing power in several states in the region, in that context this latest defection from Congress holds considerable importance.