Chief Minister Yumnam Khemchand Singh’s sudden visit to New Delhi, reportedly following a call from Union Home Minister Amit Shah, has added a new political dimension to the confrontation in Manipur over the proposed Census and the demand for an update of the National Register of Citizens (NRC). Khemchand, who is in the national capital amid mounting pressure from civil society organisations, was seen meeting Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju today. A photograph of the meeting has surfaced, though neither side has disclosed details of their discussions.
The visit comes at a time when protests against the Census have intensified across Manipur. The Campaign for Just and Fair Delimitation (JFD) and several civil society groups insist that the Census should not be conducted until the NRC is updated. Women’s organisations have also stepped up demonstrations, while Census-related training programmes have faced resistance.
The cancellation of a three-day training session for Census enumerators at GM Hall in Imphal, following warnings from civil society groups, highlights the difficulty of implementing the exercise. Khemchand’s Delhi trip is significant as the state government appears caught between pressure from the Centre to proceed with the Census and demands within Manipur for an NRC first.
The political stakes are further raised by the presence of former Chief Minister N. Biren Singh in Delhi, who left Imphal on August 24 reportedly at the behest of BJP’s central leadership. With both the incumbent and former Chief Ministers in the capital, speculation has grown that the BJP leadership is reviewing Manipur’s political and administrative situation more broadly.
For Khemchand, the visit comes at a critical juncture. His government has been trying to project normalcy, including restoring passenger transport along NH-2, while confronting increasingly assertive civil society demands. Any decision emerging from Delhi could shape not just the Census but also how the state government balances the Centre’s timetable with local calls for demographic verification.
