New Delhi: The Churachandpur agitations in Manipur, soon after a new chief minister and his two deputies were appointed, clearly reflect that the resentment on the ground is far from over. In a hurried oath-taking ceremony and a subsequent confidence vote, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leadership chose Yumnam Khemchand Singh, a Meitei, to take over the reins in the conflict-torn Manipur, nearly a year after the Union government imposed President’s Rule in the state. Former chief minister N.Biren Singh had resigned in February 2025 as his ability to contain escalating ethnic conflicts was put under scrutiny. Almost a year later, the BJP has resorted yet again to its now-known political formula of socially representing leaders from different communities in political positions as an ostensible measure to placate their discontent. Singh belongs to the Meitei community, while the two deputy chief ministers Nemcha Kipgen and Losii Dikho represent the Kuki-Zo and Naga tribes, respectively. Kipgen’s appointment was projected by the Union government as a progressive step in the direction of peace in the conflict-torn state, while she was also celebrated as the first woman deputy chief minister of state. However, the BJP’s bet appears to have backfired and could mark an escalation of the conflict, as the agitations in Churachandpur and New Delhi indicate. The Kuki-Zo Council, which had pledged earlier that there can’t be any political resolution if the hilly regions populated by the community is not granted autonomy, have unanimously rejected Kipgen’s leadership and has demanded her resignation. Ginza Vualzong, a spokesperson of the Kuki-Zo Council, while speaking with The Print, did not mince words. “Ever since Pi Nemcha Kipgen took the oath as deputy chief minister yesterday [Wednesday], emotions have been running high among the people. The move is widely perceived as a betrayal of the collective sentiments of those who have endured unspeakable atrocities at the hands of the Meiteis.”Reporters who have covered the conflict were told by their sources that Kipgen’s decision to accept the position of deputy chief minister was her individual decision, and that out of the ten Kuki-Zo legislators in the state, only three have decided to support the state government, while others still back the Council’s decision. Against such a backdrop, it barely came as a surprise that Lipgen could not even participate in the oath-taking ceremony, and perhaps, in a first such instance, she had to be sworn-in from New Delhi’s Manipur Bhawan amidst huge protests in which she could not even address the protestors. She read out the oath virtually via a video link. Also read: As Manipur Gets New Government, Kukis Angered by Nemcha Kipgen Taking Oath as Deputy CMSimilarly, the confidence vote also marked a first. The other two Kuki-Zo legislators – L.M. Khaute and Ngursanglur Sanate – who have decided to support the Khemchand Singh-led government, along with Lipgen herself, marked their brief presence in the assembly during the confidence vote only virtually. The motion of confidence was passed through a voice vote without objection, after the BJP brought the former Congress chief minister Okram Ibobi Singh in loop. The Manipur assembly convened on Thursday (February 5), a day after the new leadership took over, for the first time in one and a half years, but none of the ten Kuki-Zo MLAs were present in the assembly. Seven of the ten legislators are from the BJP, but only three have supported the government – a decision that the Kuki-Zo community now views as betrayal. All the three joined the assembly proceedings briefly through video links, after the governor permitted them to join online. Ever since the beginning of the ethnic conflict in May 2023, none of the Kuki-Zo legislators have been able to visit Imphal, which is dominated by the rival Meitei community.Speaking to The Wire, former secretary general of the Lok Sabha P.D.T. Achary said, “The swearing-in of the deputy chief minister of Manipur was one of the most funny things I have ever seen. Of course, this is the first time such a thing has happened. One needs to examine the legal validity of it.”“It looks as if we are living in a fantasy world. You can make somebody sitting on the moon as a minister here on the earth. When we see so much impersonation in the virtual world, how can one ensure, [in this case the governor], that the person taking oath is the real person,” Achhary wondered. “But the biggest question that emerges from such a situation,” he said, “is how does the minister function as one, if she is sitting in Delhi”. Achary pointed out a pertinent concern. “What is the use of such ministers who can’t even visit her own office and the state which she is supposed to administer? She might sit in New York city and run the ministry,” Achary said. In any case, the hurried formation of a new government now appears to be a grand cover-up exercise, as the Union government seems to have buried the burning concerns of both Meitei and Kuki-Zo under the carpet. Through the last year, the Union government has attempted to signal that it has been on the ball in Manipur. Soon after President’s Rule was imposed in the state, Union home minister Amit Shah in a high-level meeting on March 1, 2025 had instructed officials and security forces to ensure free movement across the state by March 8, 2025. He also said that strict action should be taken against those who prevent the security forces from doing so. Almost one year down the line, the status quo remains, as most reporters on the ground confirm. Free movement remains a distant dream. The Imphal valley remains out of access for Kuki-Zos, while Meities can’t still enter the hills.On and off insurgency-related violence has been regularly reported from the state. The government’s own data says that over 270 people, including security personnel, have been killed in the ongoing ethnic conflict. About 60000 people, who were displaced in the conflict, are still living in relief camps. The Union government’s promise that it will ensure that the uprooted people will be sent back to their villages remains unfulfilled, in spite of the fact that one of the trusted aides of the Union home minister Ajay Kumar Bhalla was sent to Manipur as the governor to step up the peace-building process. It was only as recently as September 13, 2025 that Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the conflict-torn state, after over two years since ethnic violence hit the state. By greenlighting the formation of a new government in the state, while trying to engineer defections in the Kuki-Zo Council, the Union government may have only sown greater seeds of distrust. The Kuki-Zo Council has pledged to intensify its agitations for autonomy, and has demanded immediate resignation of Lipgen. Such a call indicates that the Union government hasn’t engaged the conflicting parties in a dialogue, even as BJP’s power sharing formula is proving to be woefully inadequate in a state where wounds run deep.