Aizawl: Former speaker of the Mizoram assembly and Mizo Nationa Front (MNF) MLA, Lalrinliana Sailo joined the BJP at the state BJP headquarters in Aizawl in the presence of Nagaland Deputy Chief Minister Yanthungo Patton and senior party leaders on Thursday.
Sailo quit as Speaker and as member of the 40-member Assembly on Wednesday after the ruling MNF denied him ticket for the November 7 assembly polls, and within a day, he was inducted into the saffron party.
Deputy Speaker of Assam Legislative Assembly, Dr Numal Momin, BJP National Spokesperson, Mmhonlumo Kikon and others witnessed the induction of Sailo into the BJP fold.
Soon after being inducted in the saffron party, the four-time MLA exuded confidence that the BJP will win five to eight seats in the upcoming assembly polls in Mizoram.
“Though the BJP will not be able to form the government on its own, but the BJP will play a key role in the government formation in Mizoram,” Sailo told his party workers.
In the 2018, the saffron party candidate Buddha Dhan Chakma won from Tuichawng seat after five unsuccessful attempts since 1993. Buddha defeated his nearest rival MNF’s Rasik Mohan Chakma by a margin of 1,594 votes.
“The fiscal health of Mizoram is in a bad shape and Mizoram needs the support of the central government. The BJP-led NDA is going to retain power in Delhi and that is why I have joined the BJP because the BJP will bail out Mizoram from this financial crisis,” Sailo said.
The former Speaker also hit out at the ruling MNF for its double standards against the BJP. “The MNF is against the BJP in Mizoram, while it is very close with the BJP at the Centre,” Sailo said.
Sailo won the Chalfilh assembly constituency in the 2018 assembly polls on the MNF ticket, but he was denied the ticket by the MNF for the 2023 Assembly elections.
MNF party officials said that the party decided not to allot him a party ticket over his political remarks favouring the MNF’s alliance with the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance.
Meanwhile, Patton said the induction of Sailo into the BJP, reflects people’s trust and belief in BJP’s vision for a brighter and prosperous Mizoram.
