GUWAHATI: Manipur BJP spokesperson Elangbam Johnson resigned from the party on Friday, expressing dissatisfaction with the leadership’s alleged failure to deal effectively with the ongoing ethnic crisis in the state.
Addressing media persons, Johnson said he had taken the decision after consulting his supporters. He said the party had been unable to act in accordance with the wishes of the people since 3 May 2023, when the ethnic violence first erupted in the state.
He criticised the BJP’s Manipur unit for its alleged inability to take decisions independently on matters concerning the state and to act decisively on them.
Johnson alleged that the party’s state unit was being completely controlled by the central leadership. To support his claim, he said the state unit did not even have the authority to take decisions on disciplinary matters.
Before joining politics, he was associated with the civil society organisation United Committee Manipur. He had unsuccessfully contested the 2022 Assembly elections from the Keishamthong constituency in the Imphal Valley.