PTI, IMPHAL, JUNE 19, 2025 : Manipur Legislative Assembly Speaker Thokchom Satyabrata Singh on Thursday said a change in the administration in the state, which is currently under President’s rule, is inevitable. He also said a popular government should be formed in Manipur, which has been witnessing ethnic violence since May 2023.
“I heard that groups are being constituted for the formation of a government. I also heard someone from Delhi will be deputed for the government formation. However, I am not involved in anything as I am in the assembly,” the Speaker said.
He further expressed his belief that legislators would continue to work according to the wishes of the people. “A definite change will certainly come as the duration of the President’s rule has a specific time frame. A popular government should be formed,” the Yaiskul constituency MLA said.
The Centre had imposed President’s rule in the strife-torn state on February 13 after Chief Minister N Biren Singh resigned. The state assembly, which has a tenure until 2027, has been put under suspended animation. The Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha in Parliament confirmed the imposition of President’s rule in April. The President’s rule can be extended for a further period of six months at a time by the approval of both Houses of Parliament by a simple majority. The President’s rule cannot be extended beyond a total period of three years.
Meanwhile, a farmer was shot at on Thursday afternoon while he was working in the fields in the valley district of Bishnupur after armed men allegedly opened fire from the surrounding hills, officials said. The incident happened in Phubala in a fresh escalation of the ethnic strife in Manipur.
Ningthoujam Biren, who was admitted to a hospital with gunshot wounds, said, “I was working in the fields when five rounds were fired.” Farmers, who were working with him, claimed that the shots were fired from the nearby hills, according to officials.
Located on the periphery of the Imphal valley, the vast farmlands of Phubala are surrounded by the hills in the Churachandpur district on one side. Security forces have been sent to the area, officials said.
Protesting the incident, locals called a shutdown in Phubala. The movement of security forces was blocked in some areas of the district, they added.
