From New Delhi, we can only admire the problem. Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) elected Mr Singh as their leader in New Delhi (not Imphal) hours before President’s Rule, in force since February 2025, was to end. That a Meitei (the Hindu community is around 53 per cent of the state’s population) should become chief minister was not a surprise. However, a representative each of the Kuki-Zo and Naga tribes was also inducted in the government as deputy chief minister, signalling great optics and community reconciliation. The effect was somewhat ruined when one of them, Nemcha Kipgen, a prominent Kuki leader with ministerial experience, opted to be sworn in virtually from Manipur Bhavan in New Delhi, rather than travelling to Imphal, fearing for her safety. Two MLAs from the Kuki-Zo community —Churachandpur MLA L M Khaute and Ngursanglur Sanate, MLA from Tipaimukh — also supported the government virtually. No Kuki MLA from the 10 elected to the 60-member assembly has been to Imphal since May 2023 while the Meiteis draw a line at visiting hill areas. Kuki organisations have pledged publicly not to cooperate with their elected representatives and have issued warnings to them.
It takes little to set off violence in Manipur. The latest round was caused by a High Court order in March 2023, allowing the Meitei community to claim “Scheduled Tribe” status and, therefore, enable it to buy land in the hills dominated by the Kukis and Nagas. That order has since been amended. But it sparked massive violence (more than 200 dead) and displacement (Manipur has around 40,000 “Internally Displaced Persons” from different communities in camps). The original issue — whether the Meiteis can claim Scheduled Tribe status — is yet to be decided because the state government has still to give its opinion to the Centre.
Two questions arise: Why Yumnam Khemchand Singh; and why now?
Mr Singh is seen as a neutral, non-controversial BJP leader with a long association with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. He has been MLA twice (2017 and 2022), on both occasions from the Singjamei constituency. Till 2022, he was speaker in the Assembly, and later minister in the Biren Singh government till 2025. He visited a camp for displaced Kukis in December last year and one for Meiteis earlier this week.
However, the complexity of Manipur’s society and politics goes beyond tokenism and evenhandedness. Myanmar has just concluded elections, leading to the predictable installation of a military-backed political party. But vast swathes of the country, including parts of the Sagaing province, which shares borders with Manipur, are outside the military government’s control. Myanmar’s unravelling is no longer contained within its borders. The central government’s calculation is that an elected government in Manipur will be better placed in engaging with political issues arising out of a disturbed border.
Manipur — specifically Ukhrul — is the home of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN), with which the Union government has been in negotiation for the longest time over its demand for a greater Nagaland. In the mean time, although it has signed agreements with NSCN supreme leader Muivah, it recently announced an agreement with the Eastern Nagaland People’s Organisation to work towards creating an autonomous authority in the eastern parts of Nagaland. This has dealt a blow to the NSCN dream of unifying Nagaland and has contributed to the restiveness of the Nagas in Manipur.
The new chief minister’s biggest challenges are restoring law and order, especially preventing the free flow of weapons; infrastructural development, which will address unemployment; and restoring trust in institutions that are meant to make people feel safe. Question marks remain.
 "Manipur, Manipur govt")