Imphal: Former Assembly Speaker and Minister Yumnam Khemchand Singh was sworn in as the new Chief Minister of Manipur on Wednesday.
The swearing-in came a day after the BJP announced in New Delhi that the 61-year-old Meitei community leader will be the new Legislature Party Leader.
Governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla administered the oath of office and secrecy to the new Chief Minister, two Deputy Chief Ministers, and two other ministers at a ceremony at the Lok Bhavan.
The other ministers who took oath are Nemcha Kipgen and Govindas Konthoujam — both from the BJP, Loishi Dikho of the Naga People’s Front (NPF), and Khuraijam Loken Singh of the National People’s Party.
Former minister Nemcha Kipgen took the oath virtually from Manipur Bhavan in New Delhi as Deputy Chief Minister. The lone woman minister so far, she belongs to the Kuki tribal community.
Dikho of the NPF also took the oath as the Deputy Chief Minister.
The Khemchand Singh-led ministry will be expanded later as the berths of seven ministers are still vacant.
The BJP’s newly appointed Central observer Tarun Chugh, the party’s Northeast coordinator Sambit Patra, former Chief Minister Biren Singh, Assembly Speaker Thokchom Satyabrata Singh, state BJP President Adhikarimayum Sharda Devi and a few MLAs and a host of top dignitaries were present in the swearing-in-ceremony.
Earlier on Wednesday, the Centre on Wednesday withdrew President’s Rule from Manipur, paving the way for the Yumnam Khemchand Singh-led NDA government in the state, officials said.
“In exercise of the powers conferred by clause (2) of Article 356 of the Constitution, I, Droupadi Murmu, President of India, hereby revoke the Proclamation issued by me under the said article on the 13th day of February, 2025, in relation to the State of Manipur, with effect from the 4th day of February, 2026,” a notification, issued by the Union Home Secretary Govind Mohan, said.
Manipur had been under President’s Rule since February 13 last year, four days after then-Chief Minister N. Biren Singh resigned amid prolonged ethnic violence. Biren Singh had stepped down on February 9 following sustained unrest between the non-tribal Meitei and tribal Kuki-Zo communities. More than 260 people were killed, around 1,500 injured, and over 70,000 displaced after ethnic violence erupted on May 3, 2023, following a ‘Tribal Solidarity March’ organised in the hill districts to protest the Meitei community’s demand for Scheduled Tribe status.
The 60-member Manipur Assembly, which was kept under suspended animation after the imposition of President’s Rule, has a tenure until 2027.
Party leaders and a large number of MLAs greeted Khemchand Singh after he arrived at Imphal airport on Wednesday morning from New Delhi.
Ending months of uncertainty and prolonged parleys over government formation in Manipur, the BJP on Tuesday announced that Khemchand Singh will be the state’s next Chief Minister. BJP leaders said that Khemchand Singh was elected as the Legislature Party Leader at a meeting held in the national capital and attended by BJP MLAs from Manipur, along with Central Observer Chugh and Patra, among other senior leaders.
In the meeting at the BJP party headquarters in Delhi, Khemchand Singh’s name was proposed as the Legislature Party leader by former Chief Minister Biren Singh.
The BJP has 37 MLAs in the 60-member Manipur Assembly, while its NDA allies — the National People’s Party (NPP) and the Naga People’s Front (NPF) — have six and five MLAs respectively. Three Independent MLAs are also supporting the BJP-led NDA.
Earlier, Khemchand Singh, accompanied by Chugh, Sambit Patra, Biren Singh, Sharda Devi and a few MLAs, met the Governor at the Lok Bhavan to stake his claim to form the government, and was then invited to form the government.
(IANS)
