Footballer-turned-journalist-turned politician, Nongthombam Biren Singh will continue as the Chief Minister of Manipur for the second straight term.
This announcement by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in the State capital Imphal on Sunday ended more than a week of suspense on who would be in charge after the Bharatiya Janata Party won the Assembly election with a clear majority.
The 61-year-old Mr. Singh will be the second after Okram Ibobi of the Congress to carry on after completing a full five-year term as the Chief Minister of the State with a history of extremism and violence.
“The newly elected MLAs have unanimously elected Shri Biren Singh as their legislature party leader,” Ms. Sitharaman said after a closed-door meeting with the BJP legislators at the State party headquarters on Sunday.
She is one of the two Central observers the BJP had nominated to oversee the government formation in the State. The other is Law and Justice Minister Kiren Rijiju.
Ms. Sitharaman hoped the decision would go a long way in ensuring political stability and good governance in Manipur.
Soon after the announcement, Mr. Singh and senior BJP leaders met Governor La. Ganesan and staked claim to forming the government. The new ministry is expected to be sworn in after the five-day Yaoshang — Manipuri Holi — ends on March 22.
Many contenders
Several contenders for the Chief Minister post had reportedly put the BJP’s central leadership in a dilemma though the party was in a position to form a government on its own with 32 seats in the 60-member House. The BJP had won 21 seats in 2017 but managed to forge an alliance with smaller parties leaving the Congress, the single-largest party with 28 seats, in the lurch.
Leading the BJP to a clear majority is believed to have tilted the scale in Mr. Singh’s favour. He and senior BJP leader Thongam Biswajit were the frontrunners for the post. Their names were doing the rounds for the past one week before former Assembly Speaker, Yumnam Khemchand’s name cropped up at the last moment to add to the suspense.
Mr. Singh and Mr. Biswajit were summoned to New Delhi twice in five days for ending the impasse on the leadership issue. They held discussions with Home Minister Amit Shah, BJP president Jagat Prasad Nadda and party stalwart B.L. Santhosh.
The duo returned to Imphal on Sunday morning along with Ms. Sitharaman, Mr. Rijiju, Labour Minister Bhupendra Yadav, Mr. Khemchand and Manipur’s Rajya Sabha member Leishemba Sanajaoba, also the State’s titular king.
Mr. Singh began his career as a footballer that got him a job in the Border Security Force. He played mostly as a defender at domestic tournaments but resigned from the force to become a journalist.
He edited the vernacular Naharolgi Thoudang from 1993 through its transition from a periodical to a daily till 2001.
He achieved instant success in politics, winning the Heingang Assembly seat for the first time in 2002 as a candidate of the regional Democratic Revolutionary People’s Party. He joined the Congress in less than two years and became a junior Minister.
The troubleshooter
It did not take long for Mr. Singh to become the troubleshooter for his mentor and the then Chief Minister, Mr. Ibobi. But their relationship soured during the latter’s third term as the Chief Minister.
He quit the Congress in October 2016 and joined the BJP. He trumped more experienced BJP leaders, including Mr. Biswajit to head the first BJP-led coalition government in Manipur. He survived revolt within the BJP and temporary severance of ties by one of the allies of the party.
