Nine Naga MLAs Abstain From Manipur House Proceedings, Demand Deputy CM’s Removal

Nine Naga legislators cutting across political party lines abstained from the final sitting of the Manipur Legislative Assembly session on Monday. The collective boycott was staged in vehement protest against the tragic abduction and killing of six Naga civilians earlier this year. The legislators are demanding immediate, unyielding punitive action against fellow Deputy Chief Minister Nemcha Kipgen, a Kuki leader, alleging that her office maintains active collusive links with the armed militant faction responsible for the executions.

The political standoff drastically escalated during the morning hours when Awangbou Newmai, the chief of the Naga People’s Front (NPF) Manipur State Unit, formally announced the mass abstention following a high-level strategy meeting. Addressing the press at the official residence of the state’s second Deputy Chief Minister, Losii Dikho, Newmai declared, "“We do not want to attend the Assembly session together with Nemcha Kipgen,”" emphasizing that the presence of the Kuki lawmaker compromised the moral integrity of the house. The boycott was jointly supported by Naga representatives belonging to the NPF, the National People's Party (NPP), and the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

The core of the grievance traces back to a highly sensitive cross-community incident that occurred on May 13, 2026, when a heavily armed group abducted 18 individuals from the Leilon Vaiphei area. While a majority were subsequently released, six Liangmei Naga civilians were kept captive for nearly a month in Kangpokpi before being brutally executed by the Kuki National Front-Presidential (KNF-P). The Naga Legislators Forum has openly pointed an accusing finger at Thangboi Kipgen, the husband of Deputy CM Nemcha Kipgen and the chief of the KNF-P, identifying him as the primary mastermind behind the killings.

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The protesting MLAs completely rejected an official clarification offered on the floor of the House by Home Minister Govindas Konthoujam, who attempted to downplay the involvement of specific political families while investigations are still underway. Deputy Chief Minister Losii Dikho expressed deep frustration over the central and state security apparatus's continuous failure to deliver justice, warning that the Naga community's long-standing patience has entirely run out. The legislators have submitted an official ultimatum to the government, demanding that Kipgen be “removed or suspended pending completion of the investigation” to ensure a transparent, uninfluenced probe into the militant camp networks.

This dramatic internal revolt within the ruling alliance comes at a time when Manipur remains severely fractured by ongoing ethnic-violence-hit configurations that initially erupted in May 2023. While Deputy CM Nemcha Kipgen has vehemently rejected the allegations as unverified claims that further damage fragile inter-community trust, trade experts and political analysts note that the intensifying Naga-Kuki political rift could entirely paralyze the local government. As Naga civil society organizations organize large-scale rallies in Imphal demanding the immediate scrap of Suspension of Operations (SoO) pacts with Kuki armed groups, the future stability of the state's legislative governance hangs in a highly precarious balance.

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