BJP initiates government formation process in Manipur, appoints Tarun Chugh as central observer

Security personnel in the vulnerable areas of the hill and valley districts of Manipur. (File Photo: PTI)

• BJP begins process to form government in Manipur as President's rule nears end
• Tarun Chugh named central observer for Manipur legislative party leader election
• Kuki-Zo MLAs remain undecided amid ongoing demand for separate legislature

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The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has initiated the process for government formation in ethnic violence-hit Manipur.

Kickstarting the process, the BJP Parliamentary Board on Monday appointed Tarun Chugh, the party’s national general secretary, as central observer for the election of the legislative party leader in Manipur.

The meeting of the Manipur NDA legislative party is expected to be held later today, in which a leader will be selected for the post of chief minister.

The State was placed under President’s rule on February 13 last year after the then Chief Minister N Biren Singh had stepped down just a day before his government was due to face a no-confidence motion and a critical floor test. Later, the President’s rule was extended for another six months with effect from August 13. It will expire on February 13.

All BJP MLAs from Manipur were called to Delhi for a meeting with party's top brass today, just days before the second term of President's rule in the state is set to end. The central government had first imposed President's rule on February 13, 2025, for six months, following months of ethnic clashes between the Meitei and Kuki communities. This period was later extended by another six months in August 2025.

Among those who have arrived in the capital were former Chief Minister N Biren Singh, Assembly Speaker Satyabrata Singh, and former minister Y Khemchand Singh. BJP state president A Sharda Devi also attended the meeting.

With the process of government formation now in place, an immediate challenge for the Centre will be to win the confidence of the Kuki-Zo tribals. The state’s ten Kuki-Zo MLAs, including seven from the BJP, have not been able to commit to participating in any future government.

The Kuki-Zo community has stuck to its guns on the Union Territory with a separate legislature demand. On January 28, three student bodies from the community jointly held a rally on the theme “We want a political solution, not government.”

The ethnic violence, which erupted on May 3, 2023, had left over 260 people dead and some 60,000 others internally displaced. A large majority of the displaced people are still lodged in relief camps.