Imphal, Sept. 1 -- The Kuki People's Alliance (KPA) has expressed in-principle support for implementing the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Manipur, while insisting that the exercise should be conducted solely by the Government of India.

In a statement, the alliance said it had "no objection" to a process aimed at identifying citizens, but opposed making the NRC a prerequisite for conducting the regular Census. According to the KPA, the Census is a statutory exercise and postponing it until completion of an NRC could run contrary to constitutional and legal provisions.

The alliance said any citizenship verification process must be carried out in accordance with the Constitution, the Citizenship Act, 1955, and the Citizenship (Reg...