Opinion | Centre’s Move To Install New Government An Opportunity For Strife-Torn Manipur

How the newly installed Khemchand government handles the challenges remains to be seen, especially with the next state elections just a year away

After a year of the President’s rule, the northeastern state of Manipur, deeply divided due to the ethnic conflict between Meiteis and Kuki-Zo people, got a new government on February 4. After 12 months of uncertainty to choose the successor of Biren Singh, the state’s first saffron chief minister, the central BJP leadership finally zeroed in on Yumnam Khemchand, who was the state assembly speaker during the first Biren government. He is known within the state BJP for having good relations across all communities in the state.

Notably, it was Khemchand who became the first BJP Meitei legislator to visit two Kuki villages in the hills and visited a Kuki relief camp. This visit was significant because since the start of the ethnic conflict — which claimed more than 260 lives and left more than 60,000 people displaced — Meiteis have mostly avoided stepping into Kuki-Zo majority areas, and Kuki-Zo people have also mostly refrained from visiting Meitei-dominated areas. This makes him quite different from other BJP chief minister aspirants, particularly Biren Singh, who is still strongly disliked by a large Kuki-Zo community.

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