Denied MNF ticket, Mizoram Speaker quits, set to join BJP

AIZAWL: Lalrinliana Sailo resigned as Speaker of the Mizoram assembly and MLA of CM Zoramthanga's Mizo National Front (MNF) on Wednesday, saying he would join BJP and work towards pulling the state out of what he claimed was a financial morass, reports HC Vanlalruata.

Sailo, the eighth legislator to quit ahead of the November 7 elections to the 40-member House, was denied a ticket by MNF to defend the Chalfilh seat he won in 2018.

"I had appealed to the BJP leadership to make Zoram Medical College, the only one of its kind in our state, a central institute as a condition for me to join the party. They have made that promise," he said after handing his resignation to assembly secretary Lalhmahruaia Zote.

Members of the state BJP unit accompanied Sailo, who is likely to be inducted into the saffron party on Thursday.

MNF denied Sailo a ticket after he declared that he wanted the party to merge with BJP. Zoramthanga's party is a constituent of BJP-led NDA at the Centre, but doesn't have a tie-up in the Christian-majority state. On Tuesday, five Independent MLAs affiliated to a party that wasn't registered with the Election Commission when they were voted to the assembly in 2018 resigned, citing the anti-defection law that requires them to quit their seats to be able to contest the polls as candidates of the now-recognised Zoram People's Movement.