The eighth session of the 12th Manipur Legislative Assembly begins today with the NRC demand dominating proceedings, as the House reaffirmed its earlier resolutions urging the Centre to update the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Manipur before conducting the Census.
Chief Minister Yumnam Khemchand Singh moved a resolution urging the Government of India to update the NRC in Manipur before the Census, citing the interests of the State as well as the country. The resolution reaffirmed decisions adopted by the Assembly on August 5, 2022 and March 1, 2024.
The move came after Congress MLAs sought an Adjournment Motion to debate the public demand for an NRC exercise before the Census. The attempt triggered a politically charged opening to the session, with the ruling side facing the prospect of public backlash if the opposition motion was rejected outright.
Instead of allowing the NRC demand to be debated through the Congress-sponsored adjournment motion, the government moved to reaffirm the Assembly’s earlier resolutions on the issue, effectively placing the House on record once again in support of an NRC exercise before the Census.
Addressing the House, Chief Minister Khemchand said the Centre had deferred the Census in Manipur after taking into account public concerns and the demand for an updated NRC.
He said the Assembly had first adopted a resolution seeking an NRC in August 2022, during the tenure of former Chief Minister N. Biren Singh, and that the decision was subsequently communicated to the Ministry of Home Affairs in 2023. The demand was reiterated through another Assembly resolution in 2024.
Khemchand said that after President’s Rule and the formation of the present government, the State Home Department conducted a two-day seminar in August this year, which concluded that the NRC should precede the Census.
He said the State’s concerns and public grievances were subsequently conveyed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and other senior Central leaders.
“The Census was deferred in accordance with the wishes of the people,” Khemchand told the Assembly.
Responding to questions over the absence of a formal written order announcing the deferment, the Chief Minister said he and Governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla had attended a meeting in New Delhi chaired by Amit Shah where the decision was taken.
The Chief Minister’s Secretariat had announced on August 31 that the Census exercise in Manipur had been deferred following a high-level meeting chaired by Shah in New Delhi. The deferment came amid sustained protests demanding that the NRC be updated before the Census.
The opening sitting also witnessed an obituary reference for four former members of the Assembly—Longjam Ningthemjao Singh, former MLA from Heingang; K. Envey, former MLA from Phungyar (ST); Dr Md. Maniruddin Sheikh, former MLA from Lilong; and A.S. Arthur, former MLA from Ukhrul (ST).
Speaker Thokchom Satyabrata Singh moved the obituary resolution, which was unanimously adopted by the House. Members observed a two-minute silence in their memory.
Leader of the House Yumnam Khemchand Singh initiated the obituary reference, followed by former Chief Minister N. Biren Singh and Home Minister K. Govindas Singh. Opposition leader and senior member O. Ibobi Singh, along with K. Meghachandra Singh, Th. Lokeshwar Singh, Ram Muivah and Leishiyo Keishing, also paid tributes to the departed former legislators.
