New Delhi: Almost a year after President’s rule was imposed in Manipur, the Government of India revoked it Wednesday, according to a proclamation issued by President Droupadi Murmu.
The notice reads, “In exercise of the powers conferred by clause (2) of article 356 of the Constitution, I, Droupadi Murmu, President of India, hereby revoke the Proclamation issued by me under the said article on the 13th day of February, 2025, in relation to the State of Manipur with effect from the 4th day of February, 2026.”
On Tuesday, Yumnam Khemchand Singh, the 62-year-old Meitei BJP MLA was announced Manipur chief minister. BJP legislature party leader Y. Khemchand Singh will be sworn in as chief minister of Manipur at 6 pm Wednesday at the Lok Bhavan.
Khemchand, who is from a faction opposed to Biren Singh, served as the assembly speaker in Manipur between 2017 and 2022 during the BJP government’s first term. In Biren’s second term, he held the portfolios of municipal administration and housing development; rural development and panchayati raj and education.
Manipur has been on edge since May 2023 and has been divided along ethnic lines, with the Meiteis largely confined to the valley and the Kuki-Zo communities to the hills. More than 250 people have been killed and over 50,000 displaced in the violence.
N. Biren Singh resigned as chief minister in February 2025 amid criticism of his government’s handling of the ethnic clashes between the Meiteis and Kukis, which erupted in May 2023. Subsequently, President’s Rule was imposed in the state, and Ajay Kumar Bhalla, former Union Home Secretary with extensive experience in managing crisis situations, took charge of the administration.
Bhalla, a 1984-batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer of the Assam-Meghalaya cadre, was appointed Governor in December last year.
The BJP continues to hold a majority in the 60-member Manipur Assembly, which currently has 59 MLAs following the death of National People’s Party (NPP) legislator N. Kayisii in January last year. BJP MLAs, including seven from the Kuki-Zo community, occupy 32 seats. After the 2022 Assembly elections, five Janata Dal (United) MLAs also joined the BJP, taking the party’s effective strength to 37.
Although the state has witnessed phases of calm, it has largely remained in turmoil, with both sides periodically resorting to violence.
(Edited by Viny Mishra)
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