Manipur: Political parties oppose delimitation directive, pass 5-point resolution

IMPHAL: Several political parties in Manipur passed a five-point resolution on Tuesday opposing the Supreme Court’s directive to complete the pending delimitation process in the northeastern states of Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur, and Assam.

The resolution was adopted during a meeting of various political leaders convened on Tuesday in Imphal. Altogether representatives from 16 different political parties participated in the meeting. The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and opposition Congress were not present.

The meeting was attended by reprsentatives of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI-M), National People’s Party (NPP), Communist Party of India (CPI), Janata Dal United (JD-U), Naga People’s Front (NPF), Republican Party of India (Athawale) (RPI-A), All India Trinamool Congress (AITC), Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Nationalist Congress Party SP (NCP-SP), Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP), Shiv Sena (SS), Shiv Sena UBT, and Manipur People’s Party.

“Conducting the pending delimitation process amid the ongoing clash between the Meitei and Kuki communities, based on the allegedly erroneous 2001 census data, could escalate the conflict further not only between the two warring communities but also involving the Naga community,” said former deputy chief minister of Manipur, Yumnam Joykumar, of the National People’s Party.

Addressing the media after the meeting, NPP state president Yumnam Joykumar said that while Manipur’s political parties welcomed the Supreme Court’s directive, conducting the delimitation process without rectifying the 2001 census data could reignite tensions in the state.

The five-point resolution adopted by the parties includes no delimitation until errors in the 2001 census are rectified; an appeal to conduct the delimitation process in 2026 as part of the national delimitation process; consideration of the ongoing conflict in Manipur, deeming the process unfeasible under the current scenario; a request to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Indian National Congress (INC) to endorse the resolution and participate in the next meeting; a decision for Manipur’s political parties to become an intervening party in the Supreme Court petition to put the delimitation process on hold.

Additionally, the meeting resolved to form a sub-committee to implement the resolutions. The sub-committee members include Yumnam Joykumar, Kshetrimayum Shanta, Nongthombam Singhajit, Oinam Nabakishor, and Thingom Bishwanath.

Joykumar further suggested that “the correction of the 2001 census data could be done by cross-verifying it with Aadhaar, the electoral roll, or other reliable processes.”