The Manipur Congress has accused the ruling BJP government in the state of being “anti-tribal” and “anti-hill” for failing to conduct Autonomous District Council (ADC) elections for the past four years. The state has six ADCs, which were last elected in 2015 during Congress rule.

State Congress president Keisham Meghachandra took to social media platform X to criticize the BJP, stating, “The BJP government is anti-hill people, anti-tribal as this BJP government has deliberately chosen not to conduct ADCs elections for the last 4 years.”

The accusations come in the wake of a resolution passed by the Hill Areas Committee (HAC) under the Manipur Legislative Assembly on October 14. The HAC, after a detailed discussion, unanimously resolved to recommend the Manipur government conduct the long-overdue ADC elections “as soon as possible.” The committee also proposed a temporary measure to form a 20-member committee to manage the ADCs, with 18 members drawn from former ADC members or experts in local government, and two government nominees.

However, Keisham lashed out at the resolution, calling it “unconstitutional, illegal, and void of any source of law from the Constitution.” He argued that the HAC lacks the constitutional authority to pass such resolutions and claimed that the arrangement was an illegal attempt by the BJP government to bypass the electoral process.

The Congress leader further pointed out that the last ADC elections were held in 2015 under the Congress-led government, and its term ended in 2020. Since then, the BJP, which came to power in 2017, has failed to hold elections, depriving the hill people of crucial financial support and benefits linked to ADCs, including grants-in-aid, central schemes, and funds from the Finance Commission.

Keisham called for an immediate halt to the temporary functioning of ADCs through “illegal selection,” urging the BJP government to uphold the democratic process and protect the interests of hill residents in Manipur.