NPF to review its alliance with BJP in Manipur
Imphal: Contending that the BJP does not pay heed to its ideas and suggestions, the NPF, a partner in the saffron party-led alliance in the state, has convened a meeting of its leaders on Saturday to decide if it would continue to stay in the coalition or withdraw support.
Denying the allegation, the BJP said it has extended all possible cooperation to its partners to ensure smooth functioning of the government.
The NPF has four MLAs in the 60-member Assembly. Even if the party pulls out, it wouldn't impact the BJP-led coalition, which currently has 29 legislators in the House.
Eight of the 28 Congress MLAs, who had won the 2017 polls, defected to the BJP last year, taking its tally from 21 to 29 in the Assembly. The other parties in the ruling coalition are NPP (4), LJP (1), Independent (1) and AITC (1).
Talking to PTI, Awangbou Newmai, the state unit chief of the Naga People's Front (NPF), claimed that the BJP "looks down" on its alliance partners.
"The BJP has never respected the spirit of alliance since the formation of government in 2017. There have been instances when their leaders have refused to consider our members as alliance partners," he said, without elaborating.
Newmai also said that the saffron party did not live up to the promises it made to its coalition partners.
"The NPF has always considered the BJP as its big brother, but that did not stop the saffron party from bluffing to us. We haven't got our due respect," he claimed.
Rebutting Newmai's assertions, Ch Bijoy, the spokesperson of the BJP, said the NPF had maintained that it did not want any ministerial berth while joining the alliance, but now, it seems, the party has several demands.
Of the four NPF MLAs in the Assembly, Loshii Dikho, who won from the Mao Assembly seat, is a cabinet minister.
"The allegations made by the NPF are totally baseless and unfounded. All possible cooperation has been extended to our coalition partners for smooth functioning of the government," he added.
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Three dead after drinking country liquor in Meerut, police initiate probe
Meerut (UP) (PTI): Three people died under suspicious circumstances after consuming country liquor in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh. Preliminary probe has not confirmed if they died due to the quality of alcohol, officials said on Saturday.
All three vomited and had abdominal pain after drinking the liquor on Friday evening and were rushed to a hospital where they were declared dead. A post-mortem will determine the exact cause of death, they said.
According to the police, Baburam (60), a grocery shop owner, Jitendra (35), who worked at his shop and Ankit alias Daulat (40), purchased liquor in the evening from a government-authorised country liquor outlet and began drinking at the spot.
Shortly after drinking the liquor, the health of all three deteriorated, and they began complaining of vomiting and abdominal pain.
The three were rushed to a private hospital, where doctors declared Jitendra and Ankit dead, while Baburam passed away during treatment.
Additional Director General (ADG) of Police for the Meerut Zone, Bhanu Bhaskar, District Magistrate VK Singh, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Avinash Pandey, and District Excise Officer Pradeep Kumar reached the spot and initiated an investigation.
SSP Avinash Pandey said that preliminary investigations have not confirmed whether the liquor was "toxic or expired". The bottling date was found to be February 11, 2026, and other bottles from the same batch received no such complaints.
He added that a post-mortem will determine the exact cause of death. Personnel from the Health, Forensic, Surveillance, and Intelligence teams have been constituted to investigate the matter.
Following the incident, the family members created a ruckus at the hospital. Police said further action would be taken based on the findings of the investigation.
