New Delhi: Hinting that the BJP leadership is not keen to have an extended President’s Rule in Manipur, the party’s general secretary B.L. Santosh has assured its MLAs in Manipur that a popular government will be formed in the state before the current extension ends in February, ThePrint has learnt.
Manipur has been under President’s Rule since February 13 this year. It was extended in August 2025 for a period of six months.
Santosh, along with the BJP’s north-east coordinator Sambit Patra, reached Manipur on a three-day visit Wednesday, to meet party MLAs from both Meitei and Kuki-Zo communities as well as MLAs from the Naga People’s Front, a BJP ally, to gauge the political mood before taking a call on forming the government.
The two leaders told the MLAs they plan to get Kuki-Zo, Meitei and Naga MLAs to come together to Delhi to discuss political situation in the state, a Kuki-Zo MLA told ThePrint Thursday.
In the meeting with the Meitei MLAs in Imphal Wednesday afternoon, Santosh told them to not get anxious about the delay in government formation, and instead start engaging with the party cadres on the ground.
There is a perception that with the Manipur assembly in suspended animation and the continued factionalism within the BJP state unit, the opposition Congress is gaining momentum.
“Though Santosh didn’t give any definite timeline, he said a BJP government will be formed at the earliest,” a party MLA from the Meitei community, who did not want to be named, told ThePrint.
The MLA added that this is the first time a senior BJP leader like Santosh, who is visiting Manipur, spoke with such conviction that a government will be formed soon.
President’s Rule was imposed in Manipur as there was no improvement in the law and order which started deteriorating after the ethnic clashes—between the mostly Hindu Meitei and tribal Christian Kuki-Zo communities—erupted in May 2023.
Attended a meeting with the Village Chiefs and the Development Council of the Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group (PVTG) Maram Tribe at the DRDA Office, Senapati District Headquarters, along with BJP National General Secretary (Organisation) Shri @blsanthosh Ji.
Office bearers… pic.twitter.com/WKbtS9Xy6z
— Sambit Patra (@sambitswaraj) November 13, 2025
Though violence has more or less subsided now, the situation in the state continues to be volatile.
Santosh and Patra’s meeting with the party MLAs comes close on the heels of at least 26 of them visiting Delhi last month to meet the central leadership to press for restoration of the BJP government in the state. Even after waiting for five days, the MLAs could not get an audience with Union Home Minister Amit Shah or BJP national president J.P. Nadda.
While Santosh and Patra met the party’s Meitei MLAs Wednesday afternoon, they met four NPF MLAs in the evening before heading to Churachandpur Thursday to meet the Kuki MLAs. They then went to Senapati to meet prominent Naga leader including village chiefs to discuss political situation and alliance coordination.
The Meitei MLA told ThePrint that Santosh and Patra also asked the party leaders to start dialogue with the Kuki-Zo MLAs. “The two leaders will also talk to the Kuki MLAs in Churachandpur. They have made it clear that any government in the state will have to have representation of Kukis,” the leader said.
There are 10 Kuki-Zo MLAs in the state assembly, including seven from the BJP. All of them have so far kept themselves distant from any talks on government formation.
The second BJP MLA added that Santosh and Patra’s meeting with the party MLAs in Imphal also came across as an attempt to motivate the party workers in the state where the BJP unit is battling factionalism. “The two leaders told us to regularly come to the party office in Imphal and start meeting the cadre,” the second MLA said.
The Manipur BJP unit has been battling factionalism in the aftermath of the May 2023 ethnic conflict. While a section had supported then chief minister Biren Singh, there were equal numbers in the opposite camp.
In the evening, Santosh and Patra met the four Naga MLAs from NPF and heard them. A Naga MLA told ThePrint, “We told them that NPF continues to be BJP’s strongest ally but the way things are going, we do not feel comfortable. The government-forming process should be expedited.”
The Naga MLAs also batted for an inclusive government, with representation from the Kuki-Zo community.
While BJP MLAs in Manipur have been pushing for the formation of a government, the security establishment wants President’s Rule to continue for some more time. It is one of the reasons behind the Centre’s reluctance to take a call on forming the government, despite the BJP being in a majority in the 60-member Manipur assembly.
(Edited by Ajeet Tiwari)
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