N Biren Singh Sworn In As Chief Minister Of Manipur For Second Consecutive Term

Manipur CM Oath Ceremony: The BJP returned to power in Manipur by winning 32 seats in the 60-member House in the recent assembly elections.

N Biren Singh takes oath as Manipur CM

New Delhi: N Biren Singh took oath as Manipur's Chief Minister for a second term on Monday. Biren Singh was administered the oath of office by Governor La. Ganesan at Raj Bhawan.

Five MLAs, including Nemcha Kipgen, Y Khemchand Singh, Th Biswajit Singh, Awangbou Newmai, and Govindas Konthoujam were also sworn in as Cabinet ministers of the state. 

After the swearing-in ceremony, Biren Singh said his government's first step would be to make Manipur a corruption-free state. 

"I will work day and night to wash out corruption from the state. The next step will be to wash out any kind of drug-related matter from the state," ANI quoted Biren Singh as saying.

"Thirdly, I will try to see that all the insurgents operating in the state are brought to the negotiating table and there are dialogues. These three will be my primary duties," he said.

BJP President JP Nadda participated in the swearing-in ceremony at Imphal. Biren Singh was elected as BJP legislature party leader on Sunday.

Former minister and influential BJP leader Thongam Biswajit Singh was also a strong contender for the top post.

The BJP returned to power in Manipur by winning 32 seats in the 60-member House in the recent assembly elections.

In the 2017 polls, although the BJP had won only 21 seats, it managed to lure MLAs from the Congress, which clinched 28 seats, and Biren Singh was sworn in as the first-ever BJP chief minister in Manipur.

BJP's vote share this time round was a massive 37.8 per cent and political observers have given Biren Singh credit for this.

A 1981-batch arts graduate from Manipur University, Biren Singh was born at Luwangsangbam Mamang Leikai in Imphal.

He was a football player who later got recruited in the Border Security Force (BSF). After quitting BSF, he began a vernacular daily "Naharolgi Thoudang" in 1992 and worked as its editor till 2001. He took the political plunge in 2002.

In 2002, he won his first electoral battle from Manipur's Heingang assembly constituency as a candidate of the Democratic Revolutionary People's Party. He retained the seat in 2007 on a Congress ticket and served as a minister till 2012.

Four years later, he joined the BJP and in 2017, he won from the same assembly constituency again and led the first BJP government since 2017.