New Delhi, February 25 (PTI): Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh accused Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh on Friday of insulting women after he purportedly said that IMFL shops would be reopened in the poll-bound state.
"It's shocking that 48 hours before the campaign comes to a close, outgoing BJP CM announces that Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) shops will be opened. This is an insult to the women of Manipur! We demand an immediate withdrawal of the statement by the CM. #BJPAgainstIma," Ramesh said in a tweet.
He tagged a news report that quoted Singh as saying that IMFL shops will be reopened in the northeastern state if the BJP retains power.
Underground group Revolutionary People's Front had forced the closure of all foreign liquor shops in Manipur in 1991.
In another tweet, the All India Congress Committee (AICC) senior observer for the Manipur Assembly polls hit out at the BJP leadership, saying despite the visits of the prime minister, the home minister and several other Union ministers, only 48 per cent of the eligible population in the state has got two doses of the Covid vaccine.
"PM has come and gone. Home Minister has come and gone. Other ministers have come and gone. Yet, as of now only 48 per cent of eligible population in Manipur has got two doses of Covid-19 vaccine," Ramesh said.
"This is the stark reality of #BJPDoubleEngineHaijinbi government that has failed the people of Manipur," the former Union minister added.
Manipur is scheduled to go to polls in two phases on February 28 and March 5 and the counting of votes will be taken up on March 10.
