President's Rule in Manipur: from February 2025 to an elected government

Manipur has been in crisis since ethnic violence between Meitei and Kuki-Zo communities erupted in May 2023, following a dispute linked to a demand for Scheduled Tribe status for Meiteis and a Manipur High Court direction on the issue. The violence displaced large numbers of people, and central security forces were deployed, but political normalcy did not return. The state government, led by Chief Minister N. Biren Singh, faced sustained criticism over its handling of the conflict.

On 9 February 2025, Biren Singh resigned as Chief Minister. The immediate constitutional problem was practical: the Assembly's budget session was due, and under Article 174, the gap between two sessions of a legislature cannot exceed six months. The last session had been held in August 2024, so a session had to be convened by February 2025, yet no consensus Chief Ministerial candidate emerged to form a government that could face the House.

On 13 February 2025, President Droupadi Murmu imposed President's Rule in Manipur under Article 356, on the Governor's report that the state government could not be carried on in accordance with the Constitution. The Assembly was placed under suspended animation, not dissolved, which meant its members remained in place but the House did not function, while the state came under the direct administration of the Centre through the Governor, Ajay Kumar Bhalla, who had taken office in January 2025.

President's Rule was initially imposed for six months and was extended for a further six months in August 2025, after parliamentary approval, as required for an extension beyond the initial period. Article 356 proclamations must be laid before Parliament and lapse after two months unless approved, and in total, President's Rule in a state cannot ordinarily continue beyond three years without further constitutional steps. Manipur's case thus became the most recent use of Article 356 since Puducherry in 2021, and the eleventh imposition in Manipur's history, according to contemporary reporting.

On 4 February 2026, President's Rule was revoked, and Yumnam Khemchand Singh, leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party legislature party, was sworn in as Chief Minister, restoring an elected government after almost a year of central rule. The restoration of a government, however, is not the same as the restoration of peace, and the underlying questions of displacement, security, and reconciliation in Manipur remained open at the time of writing.