The Congress on Friday said the exit of five former Congress MLAs to join a regional party in Manipur will not "create any political loss" for the country's oldest party.
"We have efficient candidates in all the constituencies," a senior Congress leader told PTI.
The five former Congress legislators had resigned from the party on Thursday and joined the North East India Development Party (NEIDP).
The Congressmen who joined the regional party were R K Anand, E Chand, Dr Ng Bijoy, Dr I Ibohanbi and K Sarat.
The Congress leader said it was "good" that the former MLAs had left as some of them were "apprehensive about not getting party tickets for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections."
Ng Bijoy, who was appointed as the president of the NEIDP, told a press conference here that the Congress had "little interest" in regional issues.
He claimed that the five Congress members had joined the NEIDP to work for issues pertaining to the state.
Meanwhile, R K Anand was declared as the NEIDP candidate for the Inner Manipur Lok Sabha constituency and Ashang Kasar, for the Outer Manipur seat.
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