NPF has decided to withdraw its support from the BJP-led government in Manipur. (In pic: CM N Biren Singh)

The Naga People's Front (NPF) has decided to withdraw its support to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in Manipur. NPF's decision to withdraw support from the BJP-led coalition government in Manipur was announced by party's spokesperson Achumbemo Kikon.

Speaking to news agency ANI, Achumbemo Kikon said that the NPF has had a long meeting and it has decided to withdraw its support from the BJP government in the northeastern state of Manipur.

He said, "We had a long meeting at NPF central office in Kohima and decided to withdraw support in principle from the BJP led Manipur government." NPF is a partner in the BJP-led alliance in Manipur.

NPF has long been alleging that the BJP government in the state does not pay heed to its ideas and suggestions.

However, the withdrawal of the support from the BJP government in Manipur won't impact the coalition since NPF has only four MLAs in the 60-member assembly. The BJP, on the other hand, 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).

The NPF on Saturday convened a meeting of its leaders on Saturday to decide if it would continue to stay in the coalition or withdraw support. State unit chief Awangbou Newmai of the Naga People's Front had also claimed that the BJP "looks down" on its alliance partners.

"The BJP has never respected the spirit of the 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.

Awangbou Newmai also said that the saffron party did not live up to the promises it made to its coalition partners.

The BJP has however denied the allegation. The saffron party said that it has extended all possible cooperation to its partners to ensure smooth functioning of the government.

Rebutting Awangbou Newmai's allegations as "baseless", spokesperson of the BJP Ch Bijoy said that 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.