On Saturday, Union Home Minister Amit Shah will review the security situation in Manipur, the first such meeting after the imposition of the President’s rule in the northeastern state, officials said.
Manipur has been witnessing ethnic violence since May 2023 between the Meitei and Kuki-Zo communities of the state. An estimated 250 people have lost their lives so far.
“The Home Minister will review the security situation in Manipur on Saturday. Governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla, top officials of the Manipur government, Army, paramilitary forces will attend the meeting,” the officials said.
IN CONTEXT: In February, days after N Biren Singh resigned as Chief Minister, the Centre announced that President’s rule had been imposed in Manipur and the state assembly placed under suspended animation.
The BJP-led government in the state collapsed on February 9 when Chief Minister Biren Singh resigned, shortly after returning to Imphal from New Delhi where he held talks with Union Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP president J P Nadda.
Accepting Singh’s resignation, the Governor issued a notification nixing the Assembly session by declaring the January order summoning the House on February 10 “null and void”.
Earlier, the Congress had threatened to bring a no-confidence motion against Singh and his government during the Assembly session.
In the Manipur House of 60 – Assembly elections in the state are not due until 2027 – the current strength was 59 following the death of NPP MLA N Kayisii in January.
The Manipur Congress had been opposing the implementation of President’s Rule in the state.
“They have realised that there was a completely failed state under N Biren Singh and that the state was completely destroyed in the past 20 months. The Constitution and the people’s mandate is not being respected,” said Congress President K. Meghachandra Singh.
Kuki-Zo groups, which had been calling for President’s Rule in the state, said they welcomed the move.
“The President’s Rule is more preferable than a change of CM. The Kuki-Zo do not trust Meitei anymore, so a new Meitei CM is still far from comforting. President’s Rule will give a ray of hope to the Kuki-Zo, and we believe that it will be one step closer to our political solution. With the President’s Rule, I believe the groundwork to end violence will begin, which will pave the way for a conducive environment for political dialogue,” said Ginza Vualzong, spokesperson of ITLF, a Kuki-Zo group based in Churachandpur.
On February 20, the Governor appealed to people of all communities to surrender such weapons to their nearest security establishments within seven days, stating that no punitive action would be taken. However, he said that “strict action” would be taken for possessing such weapons after this period ends.
Around 6,000 weapons have been looted from state armouries during the conflict, which began in May 2023. Twenty-one months later, there are still sporadic attempts to seize weapons from these armouries. According to the last update by Security Advisor Kuldiep Singh in September 2024, 1,200 of the looted weapons had been recovered in operations by security forces, while the rest continue to be in circulation.
On Thursday, the last day of the deadline Manipur Governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla set for surrendering weapons looted from the state’s armouries during the conflict, Imphal saw an unusual procession – a stream of vehicles of the radical armed group Arambai Tenggol packed with guns of varying sizes. The group surrendered 246 weapons at the 1st MR complex in Imphal West.
J-K Assembly Budget session
With the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly scheduled to meet for the budget session on March 3, the BJP on Friday started a two-day training workshop for its 28 legislators, majority of whom are first-timers, with focus on ensuring their effective participation in the proceedings.
PM Modi at a seminar
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address a post-budget webinar on “Agriculture and Rural Prosperity” via video-conferencing on Saturday.
The webinar aims to bring together key stake-holders for a focused discussion on strategising the effective implementation of this year’s budget announcements, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said in a statement on Friday.
–With PTI Inputs
Union Home Minister Amit Shah will review the security situation in Manipur, the first such meeting after the imposition of the President's rule. (Credit: X/@AmitShah) 
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