IMPHAL, Jan 8 - A new non-Congress and non-BJP political front was launched here on Friday.
The new front christened as Left and Democratic Front (LDF) was formed by Manipur State Council of CPI, CPI (Marxist), Janata Dal (United) Manipur unit, Aam Aadmi Party, Manipur State branch, Nationalist Congress Party and newly-formed Manipur National Democratic Front.
This was announced by the convenor of LDF and State secretary of CPI Dr Moirangthem Nara Singh here on January 6. The new Front is planning to field candidates in all the 60 Assembly constituencies in the State.
�We have formed the new front based on a common minimum programme and also to fight the upcoming Assembly elections,� said Dr Nara. Manipur will go to polls on March 4 and 8 to elect a new government as the term of the current Congress Government in the State will expire on March 18 next.
Meanwhile, Manipur Chief Minister Okram Ibobi�s son Okram Kenedy (Surjakumar) is likely to contest the Assembly election from Khangabok constituency in Thoubal district. In the last Assembly election, his mother O Landhoni was elected from the constituency.
Memorial service: RIMS Hospital Victims Memorial Trust on Friday organised a memorial service in memory of the nine innocent people who died in an indiscriminate firing by CRPF personnel 21 years ago in the RIMS campus on January 7, 1995. Family members of the victims and others offered floral tributes at the memorial.
Speaking on the occasion, member of the trust, Moirangthem Subashchandra said people of Manipur are against the torture and killings by the Indian armed forces under the garb of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act, 1958.
It may be mentioned that in 1995, a team of CRPF personnel stationed at RIMS campus lined up nine people including an MBBS student from Arunachal Pradesh and fired at them in retaliation for an armed attack on CRPF jawans by unknown armed men.