Speculation mounts over BJP’s move in Manipur

Speculation is rife over the BJP’s next move in Manipur as President’s rule will complete a year in the northeastern State next month and no clear words yet on the possibility of re-installation of a popular Government.

The 60-member Manipur Assembly is under suspended animation ever since President’s rule was imposed on February 13, 2025, following months of ethnic violence between Meitei and Kuki communities and the assembly’s five-year tenure will come to an end in March 2027.

Several rounds of talks were held by the BJP’s Northeast coordinator, Sambit Patra, with the party’s Meitei and Kuki MLAs separately, sources said. On December 14, 2025, BJP’s national general secretary (organisation) BL Santhosh and Patra met the party’s legislators from both warring communities under one roof.

Over 30 BJP MLAs attended the meeting, including Speaker of the Manipur Legislative Assembly T Satyabrata Singh and former chief minister N Biren Singh.

Among the seven BJP MLAs from the Kuki community, four participated in the meeting while three Kuki MLAs could not attend, apparently due to some unavoidable reasons, sources said.

So far, there have been no words from the BJP on whether there is a possibility of the formation of a popular Government before the completion of one year, the sources said.

If a government could not assume charge in the coming weeks, a statutory resolution will have to be adopted in both Houses of Parliament in the first part of the ongoing budget session for the extension of the President’s rule, they said.

A total of 32 BJP MLAs won the 2022 Assembly elections. The JD(U) won six seats and five of them later defected to the BJP. So, the BJP currently has 37 MLAs.

There are six National People’s Party (NPP) MLAs, five Naga People’s Front, five Congress, two Kuki People’s Alliance (KPA), one Janata Dal (United), and three Independents. There is one vacant seat following the death of a sitting MLA.

Manipur has been under President’s rule since February 13, 2025, after the then chief minister Biren Singh, who was heading a BJP-led Government, resigned on February 9 following ethnic violence that claimed over 260 lives since May 2023.

The 60-member state Assembly, which has a tenure till 2027, has been put under suspended animation.

After the imposition of the President’s rule, Governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla had taken a number of steps to restore peace and bring back normalcy, including asking those who looted arms from security forces.

The ethnic violence between the Meitei and Kuki communities started after a ‘Tribal Solidarity March’ was organised in the hill districts to protest against the Meitei community’s demand for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status.