ImphalOctober 9, 2025 08:23 PM IST
First published on: Oct 9, 2025 at 08:23 PM IST
IN HIS first visit to Manipur since ethnic violence erupted in the state in May 2023, National People’s Party (NPP) president and Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma called for installing a popular government in Manipur.
The NPP chief, who arrived in Imphal on Thursday on a two-day visit, called for more engagement and interaction with different stakeholders to bring normalcy. This also meant having a popular government in place, Sangma said, adding that his party wanted to do its part in “achieving normalcy”. He added that he would consult Manipur NPP MLAs before taking any decision on extending support to a BJP-led government.
While the NPP used to be a part of the NDA in Manipur, Sangma withdrew support to the coalition government led by the BJP on November 12, 2024, citing “loss of confidence” in then Chief Minister N Biren Singh’s leadership. Meghalaya has a significant Kuki population, and the Biren Singh government was accused by many of bias against them in their conflict with the Meiteis.
The NPP has six MLAs in the 60-member Manipur Assembly, with one of its legislators passing away.
Manipur has been under President’s Rule since February, and with violence dying down in the state in recent months, the call to bring back a government in the state has been growing. Last month saw Prime Minister Narendra Modi visit Manipur for the first time since the conflict began.
BJP MLAs, as well as legislators belonging to other NDA parties, too have been seeking restoration of a popular government in Manipur (its Assembly has not been dissolved), and many have been in Delhi this week seeking a meeting with Union Home Minister Amit Shah to put forward their demands.
Speaking to reporters on his arrival in Manipur, Sangma said: “Multiple efforts have been made to restore peace. While some have yielded results, some have not. But we are hopeful that with more engagement and interaction, we will slowly and steadily move towards normalcy.”
He added: “The purpose of my visit is very simple, I have come to meet party leaders, different stakeholders, different communities and overall, the people of the state. We want to understand, observe, interact and engage with different stakeholders to see how we can take things forward.”
On the demand to install a popular government in Manipur, the NPP chief said: “Obviously what the state needed was to put a stop to violence. It has decreased to a large extent, and there has been no incident of major violence recently. As such, at the end of the day, democracy is important in a country like ours and a large part of the normalcy is seeing an elected government.”