Imphal, Aug 26: Union Home Minister Amit Shah is likely to visit Manipur in the first week of October, during which he is scheduled to lay the foundation stone of the proposed Senapati Medical College in the State, the Chief Minister’s Secretariat said on Wednesday. The proposed visit was finalised during a meeting between Shah and Manipur Chief Minister Yumnam Khemchand Singh at the Union Home Minister’s official residence in New Delhi. According to the State Secretariat, Shah assured the Chief Minister that the Centre would fulfil the aspirations of the people of Manipur. The visit will include the foundation stone-laying ceremony for the new government medical college in Senapati district, a project recently approved in principle by the State Cabinet. The proposed medical college, to be established in the predominantly Naga-inhabited hill district, is expected to strengthen healthcare infrastructure, expand access to medical education and generate employment opportunities in the region. Shah’s visit will be his first to Manipur since April 2024, when he addressed an election rally in Imphal. His last major visit to the State was in May-June 2023, shortly after ethnic violence broke out, during which he held extensive consultations with political leaders, civil society groups and community representatives. The announcement comes at a politically significant juncture for Manipur, where demands for updating the National Register of Citizens (NRC) before conducting the Census have gathered momentum. Several legislators from the State are currently in New Delhi seeking the Centre’s intervention on the issue, while a delegation representing 14 civil society organisations is also meeting Union Ministers and senior officials to press for citizenship verification ahead of the Census and any subsequent delimitation exercise. The parallel engagements by elected representatives and civil society groups have elevated the NRC-before-Census demand into a major political issue, with supporters arguing that identification of genuine Indian citizens should precede population enumeration and constituency delimitation. Against this backdrop, Shah’s visit is expected to draw attention not only for its development agenda but also for the wider political issues currently shaping public discourse in the State. More details regarding Shah’s itinerary are expected to be announced closer to the visit.