Manipur Congress President Govindas Konthoujam has resigned as state party chief and eight party MLAs are set to quit and join the ruling BJP.
Quoting sources NDTV reported that Govindas Konthoujam’s resignation is yet to be accepted. There has been no official statement from the Congress on this subject. It is not yet clear if Konthoujam will be joining the BJP along with the other MLAs.
State Congress spokesperson Ningombam Bupenda Meitei, meanwhile, said party chief Sonia Gandhi is “well aware of the developments in the state” and has asked the Congress in-charge for Manipur to visit the state and meet party leaders.
“As per the direction of Congress President Sonia Gandhi ji, AICC in-charge of Manipur, Shri Bhakta Charan Das ji, will arrive in Imphal by 9 AM tomorrow (Wednesday) to meet with senior leaders and other leaders of the party in Manipur,” Meitei tweeted on Tuesday.
“The Congress President, Smt. Sonia Gandhi ji, is well aware of the developments in the state, and she is deeply concerned for the future of better Manipur,” he added.
Govindas Konthoujam has been elected MLA six times in a row from Bishnupur assembly constituency and is also the chief whip of the Congress Legislature Party. A former state cabinet minister, he was appointed chief of the state Congress unit in December last year.
The crisis for the Congress assumes significance when seen in the light of the composition of the Manipur Assembly.
In the 2017 assembly polls, it is the Congress that emerged as the single largest party, winning 28 out of the 60 seats. The BJP, however, was able to cobble up numbers and form a coalition government.
The development comes ahead of the final hearing of the petition filed by the Congress party for disqualification of 12 parliamentary secretaries. The apex court had fixed July 26 for the announcement of judgment in the case that seeks disqualification of the BJP MLAs for holding the office of profit.
