Manipur preparing for Special Intensive Revision, says Joint CEO

Manipur has begun holding training sessions of Block Level Officers and meetings with political parties for a Special Intensive Revision of the photo electoral rolls of the State, an exercise that the Election Commission of India is currently holding in Bihar and one that Opposition parties have criticised as being a roundabout way of conducting a National Register of Citizens.  

Election officials in the State said that the training sessions and meetings with political leaders of the State for a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) are being conducted as per communication from the Election Commission of India “both formally and informally”.   

Joint Chief Electoral Officer, Manipur, Ramananda Nongmeikapam told The Hindu, “This is in keeping with the SIR preparation underway across several other States like Bihar and is in line with the Election Commission’s proposal to hold SIR across the country. So far, no communication has been given on specific timelines for this exercise in Manipur.”  

According to notifications made public by the Office of the District Election Officers across Manipur for meetings with political parties, there is a reference to “the ensuing Special Intensive Revision of Photo Electoral Rolls w.r.t. 1.1.2026 as the qualifying date”.   

On July 25, at a meeting chaired by the Joint Chief Electoral Officer of Manipur, “The participating parties were sensitised about the Election Commission of India’s proposal to conduct a Special Intensive Revision across the country, aimed at safeguarding the integrity and accuracy of our democratic process,” the poll body in the State said.  

Manipur Pradesh Congress Committee President Keisham Meghachandra, who attended the July 25 meeting, told The Hindu, “It seemed like through the SIR, they also want to change voting address of internally displaced persons to the relief camp locations where they are temporarily living. This was opposed by us as it would lead the State away from peace.” 

According to CEO, Manipur’s official posts on social media, training sessions with BLOs and BLO Supervisors and meetings with political parties have been held this month across several Assembly constituencies in the State like Khangabok, Phungyar, Lamlai, Heirok, Noney, Ukhrul, among others.   

Training sessions

The Chief Electoral Officer of Nagaland has also held training sessions in the State this July where “duties of BLOs in Special Intensive Revision” was among the topics for the sessions, according to a public statement issued through the Department of Information and Public Relations of Nagaland.  

The training sessions for SIR in Manipur comes even as the State continues to deal with the crisis triggered by the ethnic conflict between the valley-based Meitei community and the hills-based Scheduled Tribe Kuki-Zo group of communities. Notably, one of the key issues that Meitei civil society organisations and erstwhile Chief Minister N. Biren Singh had blamed for the conflict was alleged “illegal immigration of Kukis” from neighbouring Myanmar.  

 During the Lok Sabha 2024 elections in the State too, the Bharatiya Janata Party had included the promise of an NRC as one of its top poll planks during campaigning for the Inner Manipur constituency.   

Mr. Meghachandra said, “We made it clear at the July 25 meeting that the process should be fair. There should not be any attempt to add bogus voters either. Even Home Minister Amit Shah and former CM N. Biren Singh have spoken about illegal immigration in the State.” 

The last Assembly election in Manipur was held in 2022, which saw Bharatiya Janata Party emerge as the single largest party in the Assembly, with the government being formed with N. Biren Singh as Chief Minister.   

Currently, the State is under President’s Rule, imposed in February this year, almost two years after the ethnic conflict began in the State. With the President’s Rule set to expire in mid-August this, year, a resolution has been admitted in Rajya Sabha for extending President’s Rule in the State for six more months this monsoon session. However, this resolution is yet to be passed.