Kuki-Zo-Hmar MLAs join Manipur assembly session virtually, CM calls it ‘positive step’

Six legislators from Manipur’s Kuki-Zo-Hmar community took part in the state Assembly’s budget session through video conference, with Chief Minister Y Khemchand Singh calling the move a “positive step” towards normalising the situation after nearly two years of ethnic unrest.

The MLAs attended Monday’s session remotely and were visible on television screens inside the Assembly hall. The chief minister said their participation indicated progress towards restoring political engagement between communities divided by the violence that began in May 2023.

“Attendance of the assembly session by the Kuki-Zo-Hmar MLAs is a positive step towards the normalisation of the current situation in the state. This is a good beginning, and everyone should encourage it,” Singh said.

Ethnic clashes between Meitei and Kuki-Zo-Hmar groups in May 2023 had effectively separated the valley and hill districts of the state. Members of the two communities have since largely avoided travelling through each other’s areas.

After the violence erupted, 10 Kuki-Zo-Hmar legislators had demanded a separate administration for the hill districts and refused to participate in the government led at the time by former chief minister N Biren Singh.

Of the nine current Kuki-Zo-Hmar MLAs, six joined the Assembly proceedings virtually on the opening day of the budget session. They include Nemcha Kipgen, L M Khaute, Letzamang Haokip, Ngursanglur Sanate, Kimneo Haokip Hansing and Haokholet Kipgen.

Assembly Speaker Thokchom Satyabrata Singh welcomed their participation and said it marked the first day of their involvement in the ongoing session. He also noted that three Kuki-Zo-Hmar legislators — Nemcha Kipgen, L M Khaute and Ngursanglur Sanate — had earlier attended the chief minister’s trust vote through video conference on February 5.

Letpao Haokip sought leave of absence for the budget session on health grounds, which the Speaker said had been granted.

The Kuki-Zo-Hmar community currently has nine MLAs in the Assembly — six from the BJP, two from the Kuki Peoples’ Alliance and one independent. BJP MLA Vungzagin Valte, one of the original 10 legislators from the community, died in February at a private hospital in Gurugram after sustaining severe injuries in a mob attack in Imphal during the early days of the violence in 2023.

Officials said the state government arranged video conferencing facilities to enable the legislators to join the proceedings from different locations. The arrangements were set up at National Informatics Centre offices in Kangpokpi and Churachandpur, as well as at Manipur Bhawans in Guwahati and New Delhi.

Political engagement between the government and Kuki-Zo-Hmar representatives has gradually resumed since the formation of a new government earlier this year. President’s Rule had been imposed in Manipur after Biren Singh resigned in February 2025. It was revoked on February 4, when a new government led by Y Khemchand Singh took office.

Following the formation of the new administration, Kuki-Zo-Hmar legislators began participating again in official programmes. Nemcha Kipgen was sworn in as deputy chief minister and was given charge of rural and panchayati raj development along with the hill and tribal affairs portfolio.