BJP's Ladakh MP resigns from party, Lok Sabha on 'health grounds'

BJP MP Thupstan Chhewang, who represents Ladakh in the Lok Sabha, has resigned from the House and also the party, its Jammu and Kashmir unit president Ravinder Raina said Thursday, as reported by news agency PTI.

Chhewang, 71, has resigned to pursue a "spiritual life" and had also been suffering from health issues, Raina told PTI, insisting that his resignation is on personal grounds.

The Ladakh MP in his letter written on Wednesday said he was resigning from the party's primary membership on "health grounds" with immediate effect. He was also quitting as an MP, he added. Chhewang, who was serving his second term in the Lower House, could not be reached for comments.

Raina said the MP had been insisting for over a year that he wanted to quit politics and pursue a spiritual life. He also had health issues, the state party chief said.

In the Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir, the BJP had faced a drubbing in the recently-held urban local body elections. 

The party lost in all 26 wards of the Leh and Kargil municipal committees in the region. While the Congress swept the polls in Leh, winning all 13 wards, it won five municipal wards in Kargil and rest of the eight wards went to Independents.