Nemcha Kipgen
Nemcha Kipgen | |
|---|---|
| Deputy Chief Minister of Manipur | |
| Assumed office 4 February 2026 Serving with Losii Dikho | |
| Chief Minister | Y. Khemchand Singh |
| Preceded by | Yumnam Joykumar Singh (2020) |
| Member of Manipur Legislative Assembly | |
| Assumed office 2012 | |
| Preceded by | Thangminlen Kipgen |
| Constituency | Kangpokpi |
| Minister of Social Welfare and Cooperation of Manipur | |
| In office 19 March 2017 – 24 September 2020 | |
| Chief Minister | N. Biren Singh |
| Minister of Commerce & Industry and Textiles & Cooperation of Manipur | |
| In office 20 March 2022 – 13 February 2025 | |
| Chief Minister | N. Biren Singh |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1 November 1965 |
| Party | Bharatiya Janata Party (since 2017) |
| Other political affiliations | |
| Spouse | S. T. Thangboi Kipgen |
| Children | 2 |
| Occupation |
|
Nemcha Kipgen (born 1 November 1965) is an Indian politician and member of the Bharatiya Janata Party serving as Deputy Chief Minister of Manipur alongside Losii Dikho since 2026. Kipgen has been a member of the Manipur Legislative Assembly from the Kangpokpi constituency since 2017. She was the Minister for Social Welfare and Cooperation during 2017–2020 in First Biren Singh ministry. She was the Cabinet Minister for Textile, Commerce and Industry in Second Biren Singh ministry.[1] On February 4 2026 Nemcha Kipgen as Deputy Chief Minister of Manipur along with Losii Dikho the Legislative Party Leader of Naga People's Front who was also appointed as Deputy Chief Minister of Manipur. She is also the minister of Rural Development & Panchayati Raj, Tribal Affairs & Hills.
Family
Nemcha Kipgen is a niece of four-time legislator Thangminlen Kipgen.[2] She is married to S.T. Thangboi Kipgen, the chairman of the Kuki National Front (President), a militant group that has been under a Suspension of Operations agreement with the Government of India since 2008.[3][4]
Political career
2012–2017
Nemcha Kipgen contested and won the legislative assembly seat from the Kangpokpi constituency in 2012, on a ticket of Manipur State Congress Party (MSCP).[5] She came up from the ranks of the Sadar Hills District Demand movement of the Kuki people, which was mainly organised by the women activists of the area.[6] MSCP, originally an off-shoot of Indian National Congress, merged back into Congress in 2014 along with its 5 legislators.[7] Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) called for the disqualification of the legislators, but did not succeed.[8]
During the 2015 protests against the controversial "anti-tribal bills" passed by the state legislature, Nemcha Kipgen's house was set ablaze by protesters along with several other legislators and ministers.[9] In 2016, Kipgen was appointed as the chairperson of the state legislature's Committee on Welfare of Women and Children.[10]
2017–2023
In January 2017, a few months before the next Assembly election, Kipgen resigned from Congress and joined the BJP.[11] She retained her Kangpokpi seat in the 2017 election, beating her nearest rival by close to 2,300 votes.[12] She seconded the nomination of N. Biren Singh for the leader of the BJP legislative party,[13] leading his elevation to the Chief Minister. Kipgen was chosen as the Minister for Social Welfare and Cooperation in Biren Singh ministry.[14] She served in this post till 2020, when she was dropped during a Cabinet reshuffle. The women supporters of Kipgen in Kangpokpi protested the action, and burnt an effigy of Biren Singh.[15]
In the 2022 Assembly election, Nemcha Kipgen again won the seat from Kangpokpi, beating her nearest rival by close to 5,400 votes.[16] She was sworn in as a Cabinet minister along with Chief Minister Biren Singh,[17] and allocated the portfolios Commerce and Industry, Textiles and Cooperation in the ministry.[18]
2023–2025 Manipur violence
After the ethnic violence between Meitei and Kuki-Zo communities erupted in 2023, Nemcha Kipgen's official residence was burnt down in Imphal.[19] Kipgen moved to Kangpokpi and worked from her home till the end of the Biren Singh ministry in February 2025. In May 2023, Kipgen, along with other Kuki-Zo MLAs of Manipur, demanded "separate administration" for the Kuki-Zo inhabited areas because the Imphal Valley was "as good as death" for their people.[20] In August 2023, she was a signatory to a memorandum to the Prime Minister demanding the appointment of a separate Chief Secretary and a Director General of Police (DGP) for the Kuki-inhabited areas.[21][22] She was nominated to the peace panel in June 2023, but the panel never got off the ground.[23] In December 2024, Kipgen, along with other MLAs from the Kangpokpi district, condemned the violence perpetrated by the Meitei militias on the fringe areas of the Kangpokpi district.[24]
On 4 February 2026, Kipgen was appinted as the Deputy Chief minister of Manipur under Chief Minister Yumnam Khemchand Singh. [25] She was given the portfolios of Rural Development & Panchayati Raj, Tribal Affairs & Hills.
References
- ^ "Manipur's Commerce & Industry Minister - Nemcha Kipgen Urges Union Minister To Develop Food Processing Industries". Northeast Today. 7 September 2022.
- ^ "BJP member Thangminlen Kipgen shows support to MLA Nemcha Kipgen", Imphal Free Press, 6 February 2022. ProQuest 2627323436
- ^ "Objectives Achieved?": Manipur Congress MP On Ceasefire With Kuki-Zo Militants, NDTV News, 20 April 2025.
- ^ "A Virtual Deputy Chief Minister Sparks Kuki-Zo Unrest as BJP's Power-Sharing Formula Backfires in Manipur". The Wire. Retrieved 8 February 2026.
- ^ "Congress secures absolute majority with 42 seats", Imphal Free Press, 7 May 2012. ProQuest 926449921
- ^ Esha Roy, The election no one watches, The Indian Express, 14 January 2012. ProQuest 916350836
- ^ "MSCP MLAs formally join Congress", Imphal Free Press, 7 April 2014. ProQuest 1513199643
- ^ "BJP call to disqualify ex-MSCP legislators", Imphal Free Press, 14 June 2015. ProQuest 2289088844
- ^ "Police controls mob out to set ablaze IFC minister's residence", Imphal Free Press, 3 September 2015. ProQuest 1709149461
- ^ "Speaker nominates chairpersons", Imphal Free Press, 29 September 2016. ProQuest 1824052378
- ^ "Kim, Nemcha, Valte join BJP", Imphal Free Press, 26 January 2017. ProQuest 1862026243
- ^ "Will make K'pi a model district: Nemcha Kipgen", Imphal Free Press, 12 March 2017. ProQuest 1876096052
- ^ Khelen Thokchom, "BJP, Cong stake claim in Manipur - Biren elected, Ibobi resigns", The Telegraph (India), 13 March 2017. ProQuest 2290242930
- ^ "CM distributes portfolios to ministers", United News of India, 24 March 2017. ProQuest 1880327507
- ^ Manipur CM inducts 5 new ministers, drops 6 in cabinet reshuffle, Hindustan Times, 24 September 2020. ProQuest 2445595361
- ^ "BJP secures majority in Manipur, reduces other parties including Congress to single digits", Asian News International, 10 March 2022. ProQuest 2637624821
- ^ N Biren Singh takes oath as Manipur chief minister for second consecutive term, Hindustan Times, 21 March 2022. ProQuest 2640975598
- ^ "Portfolios allotted to new cabinet ministers, CM Biren keeps Home, Finance", Imphal Free Press, 26 March 2022. ProQuest 2643683611
- ^ Fresh violence in Manipur; several houses set on fire in Imphal, The Hindu, 15 June 2023.
- ^ Vijaita Singh, Ten Kuki MLAs from Manipur demand 'separate administration', The Hindu, 12 May 2023.
- ^ 'Imphal Out of Bounds for Kuki-Zos,' 10 MLAs Urge PM to Create DGP, Chief Secy Posts for Hills, The Wire, 17 August 2023.
- ^ 10 Kuki MLAs submit 9 point memorandum to PM Modi: Calls Imphal 'valley of death'; demands CS & DGP equivalent post for dists inhabited by Kuki-Zo tribals in Manipur, Ukhrul Times, 17 August 2023.
- ^ PTI, Kukis to boycott peace panel over CM’s presence, The Hindu, 11 June 2023. ProQuest 2824584177
- ^ Kaybie Chongloi, Kuki MLAs in Sadar Hills Condemn Meitei Aggression During Christmas, Call for Restraint and Vigilance, The Hills Journal, 30 December 2024.
- ^ "Yumnam Khemchand Singh Takes Oath As Manipur Chief Minister After President's Rule Ends". News18. 4 February 2026. Retrieved 4 February 2026.