Aizawl: Denied a ticket to contest November’s assembly elections, Mizoram legislative assembly Speaker and senior Mizo National Front (MNF) leader Lalrinliana Sailo resigned from his post as well as membership of the House Wednesday and announced his intention to join the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Sailo was accompanied by leaders of the BJP state unit as he tendered his resignation. ThePrint has accessed a copy of the letter addressed to Deputy Speaker H. Biakzauva.
He is the eighth legislator to have resigned this month ahead of the 7 November election to the 40-member state legislative assembly, show media reports.
Sources in the BJP said he would be inducted in the party Thursday in the presence of central leaders. Sailo is likely to contest from Mamit constituency on a BJP ticket, they said.
Talking to journalists in Aizawl after submitting his resignation, Sailo said he planned to join the BJP to usher in development and bring the state out of its financial crisis. “I appealed to the central BJP leaders to ensure taking over of the Zoram Medical College by the central government as a condition for joining the BJP and they made the promise,” he said.
The MNF announced a list of 40 names for the coming elections on 4 October but announced K. Lalhmangaiha as candidate for Chalfilh constituency — Sailo’s seat. This came in the wake of Sailo publicly saying he wanted the MNF to merge with the BJP.
The MNF is a constituent of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA), but in the state, it has not formed an alliance with the BJP, resulting in one lone BJP legislator, Dr. B.D. Chakma, sitting in the opposition bench in the state legislature. In the current assembly, the MNF now has 26 legislators, after the recent resignations.
The MNF hasn’t yet reacted to Sailo’s resignation.
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Resignations this month
This month has seen as many as 8 legislators, including Sailo, quit. On 3 October, Congress MLA K.T. Rokhaw, elected from Palak seat in 2018 assembly polls, resigned as legislator. A day later, he joined the MNF to contest from the same constituency.
MNF leader Dr. K. Beichhua, who resigned as a minister in CM Zoramthanga’s ministry last December, and was later expelled from the party for ‘anti-party activities’, also resigned as a legislator 6 October and joined the BJP the same day. He is all set to contest from his seat of Siaha.
Five legislators, who had contested the 2018 elections as Independents, resigned from the assembly 10 October. They will contest the elections as candidates of the Zoram People’s Movement (ZPM).
Those who resigned include V.L. Zaithanzama from Aizawl West-III, Dr. Vanlalthlana from Aizawl North-II, Lalchhuanthanga from Aizawl South-II, C. Lalsawivunga from Aizawl South-I, and Vanlalhlana from Aizawl North-I.
Their resignations were necessitated by a technicality. They contested the 2018 elections as Independents as the ZPM was not yet registered with the Election Commission of India (ECI). However, the ZPM has received the ECI recognition, hence they needed to resign before filing their nominations as party candidates.
Meanwhile, ZPM leader and its CM candidate in 2018, Lalduhoma, was re-elected from his Serchhip constituency in 2021 bypoll as a ZPM official candidate, so he needn’t resign.
(Edited by Smriti Sinha)
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