Imphal/New Delhi, November 11, 2025
In a bid to douse the embers of Manipur's protracted ethnic inferno and resurrect a beleaguered state government, BJP national general secretary (organisation) B.L. Santosh touched down in Imphal on Tuesday, kicking off a two-day whirlwind of closed-door huddles with party MLAs, district satraps, and potential allies. The visit—timed as the hill state marks 10 months under President's Rule—signals New Delhi's urgency to forge a "popular and stable" administration capable of bridging the chasm between warring Meitei valley-dwellers and Kuki-Zo tribals, whose clashes have claimed over 250 lives and displaced 60,000 since May 2023. With the Supreme Court breathing down the government's neck for inaction and opposition barbs flying thick, Santosh's mission doubles as a political audit: Diagnose the rot, rally the faithful, and blueprint a comeback before winter's chill deepens the divide.
Santosh's arrival, aboard a special flight from Guwahati, caps weeks of Delhi maneuvering. On November 8, a delegation of 26 BJP MLAs— the party's core in the 60-member assembly—stormed the capital, buttonholing Northeast coordinator and Lok Sabha MP Sambit Patra alongside Santosh himself. Their plea: Scrap the interim central yoke, imposed on February 15 after Chief Minister N. Biren Singh's dramatic resignation amid graft allegations and failure to quell the violence, and install a fresh BJP-led regime. "We requested them to install a popular government soon. The central leadership appeared receptive," Singh hinted post-meet, in a cryptic nod to revival hopes that rippled through Imphal's gossip mills. Sources in the BJP's war room confide that Patra and Santosh greenlit the Imphal sortie as a "ground zero reset," with assurances that President's Rule—extended thrice since February—won't morph into permanence.
The itinerary, shrouded in the party's trademark opacity, kicks off with Santosh presiding over an expanded executive committee conclave at the BJP state headquarters in Nongmeibung, drawing all 32 saffron MLAs (including independents in fold) and district presidents from the 10 valley strongholds. Day two pivots to hill reconnaissance: Chopper jaunts to Churachandpur and Kangpokpi—Kuki bastions scarred by arson and blockades—for "trust-building parleys" with local BJP units and NPP (National People's Party) defectors, whose 7 MLAs could tip the scales in a fractured house. The endgame? A roadmap for government formation by mid-December, potentially anointing a "consensus CM" from the Meitei camp—names like Leishemba Sanajaoba or Thounaojam Basanta Singh whisper in corridors—while dangling olive branches like autonomous hill councils to pacify Kukis.
Manipur's tragedy, a toxic brew of land disputes, poppy turf wars, and affirmative action rows, has left the BJP's 2022 poll sweep in tatters. Biren Singh's ouster—hailed by critics as "karma for divide-and-rule"—exposed faultlines: Valley Meiteis accuse Kukis of "narco-terrorism," while tribals decry "genocidal" state complicity in militia rampages. Over 4,000 arms looted from police armories fuel a low-boil insurgency, with fresh flare-ups in Jiribam claiming 12 lives last week. President's Rule, while stabilizing security deployments, has ossified politics: Assembly frozen, funds funneled through Delhi's Raj Bhavan, and ethnic faultlines hardening into no-go zones.
Santosh, the RSS-bred troubleshooter who's tamed party rebellions from Bengal to Karnataka, arrives with Delhi's playbook: Feedback from PM Modi's inner circle on "healing divisions," per party insiders, coupled with a ground pulse-check to avert further defections. "This isn't a picnic; it's a revival surgery. Santosh will convey the high command's resolve for normalcy and gather unvarnished inputs from the trenches," a senior BJP functionary told reporters at Imphal airport, where Santosh dodged mics with a terse: "All in good time—Manipur's pain is our priority." Patra, looping in virtually, echoed: "Stability first; a new government will be the people's mandate, not Delhi's diktat."
Opposition volleys greet the optics. Congress MP Jairam Ramesh slammed it as "damage control theater," accusing the BJP of "prolonging agony for electoral math." Kuki civil bodies, boycotting the Kut Festival amid fears of reprisals, demand UN-monitored peace talks, dismissing Santosh's tour as "Meitei-centric maneuvering." Even allies squirm: Conrad Sangma's NPP, a BJP prop in the hills, faces flak for "betraying stability," per Congress barbs.
As Santosh's convoy snakes through Imphal's barbed-wire checkpoints, the stakes couldn't be higher. Success could reboot BJP's Northeast fortress, channeling Rs 10,000 crore in rehab funds to rebuild charred villages. Failure? A slide into deeper anarchy, with 2026 polls looming. In Manipur's mist-shrouded hills, where trust is the scarcest resource, one man's visit might just be the suture—or the spark.
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