Examine how internal displacement due to ethnic conflict complicates the exercise of the constitutional right to vote, with reference to Manipur.

Q. Examine how internal displacement due to ethnic conflict complicates the exercise of the constitutional right to vote, with reference to Manipur. (15 marks, 250-350 words)

Article 326 guarantees elections on the basis of universal adult suffrage, but suffrage is operationalised through an electoral roll anchored to "ordinary residence" under the Representation of the People Act, 1950 [1][2]. Manipur's ethnic conflict since May 2023, which pushed tens of thousands into relief camps, exposes how displacement can hollow out this right in practice.

Residence-based roll versus a displaced population - Registration presumes a settled address; IDPs in camps or outside the State are neither ordinarily resident where enrolled nor eligible where sheltered [2]. - Loss of homes, identity papers and local records during flight weakens the documentary proof that intensive revision demands.

Administrative strain during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) - SIR rests on house-to-house enumeration by Booth Level Officers, with deletion only after verification and a claims-and-objections window [3]. - In Manipur, of 20,93,076 electors, 19,34,399 forms (92.42%) were digitised while 7.58% remained uncollectable — a residue concentrated among the displaced and shifted [4]. - Camp-based enumeration through nodal officers mitigates but cannot fully replicate doorstep verification in disturbed hill areas.

Political and social complications - Valley and hill communities read the same exercise oppositely — one fearing silent exclusion of displaced kin, the other fearing inclusion of non-genuine voters — so roll revision becomes contested terrain rather than neutral housekeeping. - Displaced voters, dispersed away from home constituencies, also face physical barriers on polling day even if enrolled.

Way forward - Statutory recognition of IDP status for enrolment, with special polling stations or postal facility for camp residents. - Transparent, reasoned deletion orders and camp-level grievance desks before final publication [3].

Displacement converts a formal right into a logistical impossibility unless the machinery adapts to the voter's altered circumstances. Extending the enrolment process to where displaced citizens actually live — rather than requiring them to return to where violence expelled them — would keep the SIR faithful to its own stated purpose of leaving no eligible citizen out, and to the promise of Article 326.

(~320 words)

Sources: 1. Constitution of India, Part XV — Elections (Articles 324–329) — ECI's mandate over roll preparation; universal adult suffrage 2. Representation of the People Act, 1950 (India Code) — electoral roll preparation and ordinary-residence basis of registration 3. PIB — ECI's Special Intensive Revision of Electoral Rolls Being Conducted in Phases with Multiple Safeguards — house-to-house enumeration, verification before deletion, claims and objections 4. Chief Electoral Officer, Manipur — SIR 2026 dashboard — 20,93,076 electors; 19,34,399 forms digitised (92.42%); 7.58% uncollectable