History of Manipur Legislative Assembly

The first Manipur State Assembly was elected on adult franchise in July 1948 – the first of its kind in India. “The representative returnable from General, Hill and Mohammedan constituencies were in the ratios of 30:18:3 respectively with an additional two seats for the representatives of Educational and Commercial interests”. The whole valley of Manipur was divided into 29 constituencies. Three of them were plural constituencies. That is each voter had two votes, one for the Mohammedans and the other for the non-Mohammedans. “The special constituencies from which one Muslim and one Hindu were returned were Lilong, Mayang Imphal and Yairipok”. The Jiribam (Rajbari) (Hill area) was allotted a general seat. The whole hill area of Manipur was divided into 18 single member constituencies. The hill man residing in the valley demanded that one seat should be allotted to them in one of the valley constituencies. Accordingly, “Moirang constituency was made a special constituency from which one Hill representative and one valley representative were elected”. Therefore, the Manipur Legislative Assembly consisted of 53 seats.

The State Assembly was, however, dissolved after Manipur was merged with the Dominion Government of India on 15th of October 1949. Manipur became a Part C State and the State continued to be administered by the President through a Chief Commissioner or a Lieutenant Governor who acted as his agent. There was an Advisory Council appointed by the President in consultation with the Chief Commissioner. The Council met once in three months presided over by the Chief Commissioner. The Council was an advisory body and as such its advice was not necessarily binding on the Chief Commissioner.

On November 1, 1956 Manipur ceased to be a Part C State. Manipur became a Union Territory under the Union Territorial Council Act, 1956. The Territorial Council consisting of 30 elected Members and 2 nominated Members was constituted on 16.8.1957. The Territorial Council was later converted into the Territorial Legislative Assembly in June 1963. The Territorial Legislative Assembly consisting of 30 elected Members and 2 nominated Members started to function from 23.7.1963. With the enactment of the North-Eastern Areas (Re-organization) Act, 1971 by the Indian Parliament Manipur was conferred full statehood on 21st January 1972 with a 60 Member Legislative Assembly