UNC to oppose Congress in Manipur assembly polls, asks Nagas to support NPF candidates

Imphal: The United Naga Council (UNC) which has been continuing a blockade in two national highways in Manipur since November 1, has said it would oppose Congress in the Assembly election to be held on March 4 and 8.

The UNC would oppose Chief Minister O Ibobi Singh and his party, Congress, in the polls and support Naga Peoples' Front (UNF) in the coming election, the Naga body said in a statement last evening.

The UNC also asked all Nagas in the state to support candidates of NPF which has four members in the outgoing Assembly.

The UNC has imposed a blockade on NH2 and NH 37 - two lifelines of the state - since November 1 last year to protest against the state government's decision to create 7 new districts which, the UNC said, would bifurcate ancestral lands of Nagas in Manipur.

Supply of essential commodities to Manipur has been severely hit due to the blockade.

UNC also criticised the Ibobi Singh government for arrest of its president Gaidon Kamei who was taken into custody on November 25 in connection with the blockade.