As the Centre gears up to finish the delimitation exercise in four north-eastern States, Manipur BJP MLA Rajkumar Imo Singh on Monday (March 24, 2025) urged Union Home Minister Amit Shah to first take steps to complete the National Register of Citizens (NRC) and weed out “illegal immigrants”.
The Centre should also “safeguard the rights of the indigenous people” in Manipur by reserving all 40 Assembly seats in the Imphal Valley areas for them before delimitation work begins, he said in a letter to Mr. Shah.
Mr. Rajkumar, son-in-law of former Chief Minister N. Biren Singh, wrote to the Union Home Minister a week after the Supreme Court asked the Centre to complete the delimitation exercise for Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur, and Assam in three months.
In his letter, Mr. Rajkumar said, “Given the sensitive socio-political dynamics of Manipur, particularly due to the disturbances and turmoil witnessed in the last two years, it is imperative that specific foundational measures are implemented before the delimitation exercise begins.”
Fake Aadhaar cards
He said the completion of the NRC is “fundamental” to ensuring that representation within the democratic structure is reserved “solely for bona fide citizens”. He said there were public reports on “anomalies” in voter lists of the State, adding that under Biren Singh’s leadership, the State had “uncovered 65,000 fake Aadhaar cards”.
Further, Mr. Rajkumar noted that the 40 Assembly seats in the Imphal Valley region of the State were currently categorised as general seats. To safeguard the rights of the people living in the Valley region, these seats should be reserved for the “indigenous people of the Valley”. “Notably, various seats are already reserved for the hill areas. The step to give constitutional protection to the 40 seats for the indigenous people of the Valley is essential for preventing demographic imbalance and preserving the socio-cultural identity of the region,” Mr. Singh said in his letter to Mr. Shah.
In Manipur, there are a total of 60 Assembly constituencies. Of these, 40 are in the Valley region, while 20 are in the hill areas of the State. Of the 20 seats in the hill areas, 10 are for areas dominated by different Naga tribes, and 10 are for areas dominated by the different Kuki-Zo tribes. Of these seats, 19 are reserved for the Scheduled Tribes (all in the hill areas) and one seat is reserved for the Scheduled Castes (Sekmai).
The last election in 2022 saw 10 Kuki-Zomi-Hmar MLAs and 10 MLAs from Naga tribes elected from the 20 seats in the hill areas. Most of the Valley seats were won by people belonging to the Meitei community.
Referring to the Election Commission’s move to link voter IDs with Aadhaar cards, Mr. Singh said Manipur faced the problem of “fake Aadhaar cards”. Authorities must first “identify and eliminate” them, he said in the letter.
“Given the strategic and sensitive nature of the State, addressing these issues will not only ensure that the delimitation process is fair and transparent but also reinforce public trust in democratic governance,” he said.
