Dropped from Congress list, Hiphei resigns as Mizoram Speaker: Leader is 5th Congress MLA to join BJP from 40-member House

Mizoram Speaker Hiphei on Monday resigned from the post and as a Congress MLA in the Assembly, joining Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The seven-time Congress legislator said he submitted his resignation letter to Deputy Speaker R Lalrinawma who accepted it. From there, he went to Congress Bhavan to resign from primary membership of the party.

In Guwahati, convenor of the North East Democratic Alliance (NEDA) and BJP leader Himanta Biswa Sarma said Hiphei, 81, will join the saffron party in his presence in the Aizawl.

“He is a very senior leader. His joining the saffron party will greatly strengthen the organisation,” Sarma, who is also Assam finance minister, said. The senior BJP leader, however, did not comment on whether the party will field Hiphei from any constituency in the forthcoming Assembly polls in the hill state.

A veteran politician, Hiphei was elected to the Rajya Sabha for two terms, from 1990 to 1996, and from 1996 to 2002. He was elected to the 40-member Mizoram Assembly from the Palak constituency in 2013.

On 1 November, the Congress had dropped Hiphei from its list of candidates for the upcoming Assembly elections. The party had replaced him as its candidate from Palak with former legislator and Congress general secretary KT Rokhaw for the seat.

He is the fifth Congress MLA to resign from the 40-member House since September. Mizoram, the only state in the North East currently under Congress rule, will go to the polls on 28 November.