Hours after resigning as the speaker of Mizoram state assembly, Hiphei joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday, 5 November. The development comes days after he was dropped from Congress’s list of candidates for the poll-bound state.
DID HIPHEI FALL OUT OF FAVOUR?
After the first list was released on October 24, people of Palak, Hiphei’s constituency, started objecting to his candidature and Congress decided not to take a chance, The Times of India reported quoting sources.
Reportedly, Hiphei had a meeting with BJP leader and Assam minister Himanta Biswa Sarma last week. Incidentally, Sarma too, was a Congress MLA from Assam, before he shifted his loyalty to the saffron party in 2015.
WHERE DO THINGS STAND NOW?
The All India Congress Committee (AICC) on Thursday, 1 November, replaced Hiphei with former legislator and party general secretary KT Rokhaw, while BJP now has Hiphei in its ranks.
IS THE DEVELOPMENT SIGNIFICANT?
Mizoram remains the only north-east state, where the BJP is yet to penetrate significantly. In the 2013 assembly election, the party garnered a mere 0.4 per cent of the votes and failed to win a single seat.
In that context, Hiphei, a veteran in Mizoram’s scheme of things, might be a valuable addition.
Besides, a number of Congress leaders have resigned from membership of the party. Hiphei is the fifth leader to do so, ahead of the elections.
Mizoram, an assembly with 40 seats, is poll-bound on 28 November and the results will be declared on 11 December.
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