Imphal, March 18 -- The Supreme Court's decision to grant the Union Government three months to carry out the delimitation exercise in Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur, and Assam has raised concerns among social and political activists in Manipur.

Calling the directive "unfortunate and untimely" for the conflict-ridden state, social activist Sanjoy Ahanthem stated that implementing the National Register of Citizens (NRC) first would be a better step before delimitation. He emphasized the need to detect and deport illegal immigrants from Bangladesh, Nepal, and Myanmar before redrawing electoral boundaries. The Manipur government has set up a Population Commission and urged the Centre to conduct the NRC exercise.

Ahanthem called on pol...