Following Nagaland Governor La Ganesan’s death, Manipur Governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla has been given the additional charge of discharging those functions.
The Rashtrapati Bhavan made the announcement Saturday evening. La Ganesan, a veteran organiser for the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and one of BJP’s longest-serving leaders in Tamil Nadu, died in Chennai Friday.
Bhalla, who was formerly Union Home Secretary, was appointed Manipur governor in December 2024, less than two months ahead of President’s Rule being imposed in the state in February this year. He had been the Union Home Secretary when the ongoing conflict in the state had begun on May 3 2023, and with the imposition of President’s Rule — which has now been extended for another six months — is effectively in charge of administering the state.
While there has been a significant decrease in active violence between Manipur’s Meitei and Kuki-Zo communities — the last major cycle of violence between the two communities was in November last year — there is yet to be a breakthrough in dialogue between representatives between of the two communities, and they are currently not in talks with each other.
Under his charge, the government in Manipur has aimed to address several key challenges in the state. This includes a call for people on both sides to surrender arms and ammunition looted from the state’s armouries and an attempt to open up the state’s highways for free movement of both communities through areas where the other community is in the majority.
While the former was met with limited success, the latter misfired, with the state witnessing violence on the first day itself.
The government is also currently trying to facilitate the resettlement of people displaced by the conflict.
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As Union Home Secretary, he oversaw the security situation after the scrapping of Jammu and Kashmir’s special status in 2019, and the anti-CAA protests across the country. He was the chief nodal officer overseeing the COVID-19 lockdown.
