Imphal: Former Manipur Assembly Speaker Yumnam Khemchand Singh will be the next Chief Minister of the state, it was announced on Tuesday.
The Bharatiya Janata Party Legislature Party, following a meeting in New Delhi, elected Singh as its Legislature Party Leader, paving the way for him to assume office. Manipur has been under President’s Rule since February 13 last year after then Chief Minister N. Biren Singh resigned amid prolonged ethnic violence.
A member of the majority Meitei community, the 61-year-old Singh has previously served as Rural Development Minister and was elected from the Singjamei Assembly constituency as a BJP candidate in both the 2017 and 2022 Assembly elections.
In a notable move amid ongoing ethnic tensions, Singh recently visited the tribal-majority hill districts of Ukhrul and Kamjong on Monday. This marked the first outreach by any Meitei leader to these areas since violence erupted in May 2023.
After days of intense deliberations, the BJP on Monday initiated the process to select a new Chief Minister. The party’s Parliamentary Board appointed national General Secretary Tarun Chugh as Central Observer for the election of the Legislature Party Leader.
Acting on directions from the central leadership, several MLAs from the BJP and its allied parties travelled to New Delhi earlier this week. Among those accompanying the MLAs were Biren Singh, Assembly Speaker Thokchom Satyabrata Singh, Yumnam Khemchand Singh, and state BJP President Adhikarimayum Sharda Devi.
“We are expecting that the issue of government formation will be discussed,” Sharda Devi told the media before departing Imphal.
President’s Rule was imposed in Manipur on February 13 last year, four days after Biren Singh stepped down as Chief Minister. The current spell of central rule is scheduled to end on February 12 this year. The 60-member Manipur Assembly, whose tenure runs until 2027, has remained under suspended animation.
Following the imposition of President’s Rule, senior BJP leaders, including national General Secretary (Organisation) B.L. Santhosh and Northeast in-charge Sambit Patra, held multiple rounds of discussions with Manipur MLAs in both New Delhi and Imphal.
The BJP currently holds 37 seats in the Manipur Assembly. Its National Democratic Alliance partners, the National People’s Party and the Naga People’s Front have six and five MLAs respectively, while three Independent MLAs are also supporting the BJP-led alliance.
With IANS inputs