Imphal, Oct 13 (IANS): Congress MLA Francis Ngajokpa resigned from the Manipur assembly as well as the ruling party's primary membership on Thursday.

Francis went to Speaker T. Lokeswor's office in the morning to submit his resignation. 

Later, he handed over his resignation from the party to Congress state unit President T.N. Haokip. 

Francis told IANS that he will announce his next political move shortly. Speculation is rife that he will likely join the Bharatiya Janata Party.

People in his Tadubi constituency had held a meeting on Monday and decided not to allow him to campaign in their area unless he resigned from the party which the tribals dubbed as "anti-tribals".

Francis' exit from the Congress comes in the wake of the resignation of former minister and sitting MLA Yumkham Erabot, who later joined the BJP. 

Another former minister and sitting MLA N. Biren too resigned from the assembly and primary membership of the Congress. He is yet to join another party. 

Haokip told IANS that he was bound to accept Francis' resignation, while admitting that the exit of senior party members was a setback for the ruling party. 

"Numerically, these resignations are of no consequence. So far, only three of our MLAs have resigned while four MLAs from the Trinamool Congress have joined us," the state Congress President said. 

The Congress is now left with 50 members in the 60-member assembly.