Questions raised on Cabinet expansion

By Our Staff Reporter
IMPHAL, May 12 : With three full months already completed since Yumnam Khemchand was sworn in as the new Chief Minister of Manipur, many political analysts have started asking whether the State Cabinet will be expanded soon or delayed or never expanded.
In the 12th Manipur Legislative Assembly elections held in 2022, BJP won 32 seats, NPP 7, JD(U) 6, Congress 5, NPF 5, Kuki People’s Alliance (KPA) 2 and Independents 3.
With the exception of the five Congress MLAs, 54 MLAs have been supporting the Government after the death of sitting NPP MLA N Kayisii.
Following the violent crisis which erupted on May 3, 2023, the two KPA MLAs withdrew their support to the BJP-led Government. The Government is now enjoying the support of 52 MLAs.
Of the six MLAs elected on JD(U) tickets, five merged with BJP on September 2, 2022, leaving only Abdul Nasir with JD(U).
Following the merger of the JD(U) MLAs with BJP, the saffron party’s strength in the 60-Member State Assembly rose to 37.
The BJP-led Government headed by N Biren was dissolved and the State Assembly was put under suspended animation on February 13, 2025 after N Biren stepped down from the post of Chief Minister on February 9, 2025.
From February 13, 2025 itself, Manipur was brought under President’s Rule till a new Government was formed on February 4, 2026.
In the afternoon of February 4, 2026, Yumnam Khemchand was sworn in as the new Chief Minister of Manipur. For the first time in the political history of Manipur, two Deputy Chief Ministers–– Nemcha Kipgen and Losii Dikho were sworn in on the same day.
BJP’s Govindas Konthoujam and NPP’s Khuraijam Loken were also sworn in as Cabinet Ministers.
The effective strength of the Manipur Cabinet is 12 but only five Ministers including the Chief Minister have been running the State Government.
Even though his Government has completed three  months and eight days in office, Chief Minister Khemchand is still unable to fill up the seven vacant Cabinet posts.
In case, the Cabinet is expanded to its full strength, it is being speculated that two of the seven vacant Cabinet berths may be given to MLAs elected from hill districts (possibly a Kuki and a Naga) while the remaining five berths may be given to MLAs of ruling parties elected from the valley districts.
There may be no problem in giving a Cabinet berth to a Naga MLA but choosing one from among Kuki MLAs for Ministerial berth remains a headache to BJP Central leaders, sources said.
Meanwhile, some sections of Meitei Pangal people have exerted strong pressure on the Government to give one Ministerial berth to one of the Meitei Pangal MLAs belonging to the ruling parties as and when the Cabinet is expanded.
However, it is not yet clear whether Khemchand’s Cabinet will be expanded or delayed or the status quo will remain.
Sources said that Chief Minister Y Khemchand approached BJP Central leadership three times for expansion of his Cabinet but the BJP Central leaders asked him to wait for some time.
Khemchand took up the matter of Cabinet expansion during his recent visit to New Delhi.
He gave a report on his meeting with BJP Central leaders on the expansion of the State Cabinet during the meeting held with NDA MLAs at the CM Secretariat on May 7.
The Chief Minister assured the ruling MLAs that the vacant Ministerial posts will be filled up as soon as a green signal is received from the Centre, said the sources.
There were speculations that the State Cabinet might be expanded after the elections to five State and Union Territories which concluded some days back.
With elections in neighbouring Assam now over and Himanta Biswa Sarma sworn in as Chief Minister, some ruling MLAs are hopeful that the State Cabinet may be expanded soon.
The ruling MLAs told The Sangai Express they are hopeful that the Centre will give a green signal for Cabinet expansion in Manipur at the earliest.
They said that development works in the State can be expedited if the seven vacant Ministerial posts are filled up.
They asserted that restoration of peace and normalcy, and expediting development works are necessary in order to ensure the return of BJP-led NDA to power in the 13th Manipur Legislative Assembly election which is due in early 2027.
At the same time, there are some other ruling MLAs who are of the opinion that not expanding the Cabinet is even better.
With the Khemchand Government ensuring equal shares for all the ruling MLAs and taking up development works across all Assembly  segments, there is little necessity for expansion of the Cabinet, they said.
“There is little time left before the expiry of the current 12th Manipur Legislative Assembly. As such, it does not make much difference whether we serve as Ministers or MLAs during this short period”, they said.
They went on to ask what they will accomplish or achieve by becoming Ministers for such a short period.
On the other hand, Chief Minister Y Khemchand returned to Imphal after attending the swearing in ceremony of Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma this evening.
It is said that Khemchand met several Central leaders before coming back to Imphal. Now, many political observers have asked whether the Central leaders gave Khemchand the much awaited green signal for expansion of his Cabinet or not.