Other MoA event in India on Thu 5th February 2026

Clashes broke out in Manipur’s Kuki-dominated Churachandpur district on Thursday evening after protests erupted against MLA Nemcha Kipgen joining the BJP-led government as deputy chief minister.

According to officials, protesters gathered near Tuibong Bazaar and set fire to a heap of discarded materials, including tyres, while raising slogans against Kipgen. The situation worsened when security forces attempted to disperse the crowd.

The protesters, who outnumbered the deployed personnel, began pelting stones, prompting security forces to respond with a baton charge. Two people suffered minor injuries in the incident, officials said, as reported by news agency PTI.

A senior official stated, “The situation remains tense, and additional forces have been rushed to bring it under control.”

Tensions had been building since Wednesday evening after Kipgen, who hails from Kangpokpi, took oath as deputy chief minister. Several groups had called for a “total shutdown” in the Kuki-majority Churachandpur district on Friday.

Yumnam Khemchand Singh of the BJP was sworn in on Wednesday as the chief minister of Manipur’s reinstated NDA government, along with Kuki legislator Nemcha Kipgen and Naga MLA Losii Dikho as his deputies, marking a new phase of shared governance in the multi-ethnic state amid the Meitei–Kuki conflict.

Manipur witnessed ethnic violence between the Meitei and Kuki communities in May 2023. Following continued unrest, President’s Rule was imposed in the state in February last year.