N Biren Singh to continue as Manipur CM, announces BJP

Taking to Twitter soon after the announcement, Biren thanked PM Narendra Modi and other party top brass. He also called on Governor La Ganesan to stake claim for forming the government.

Imphal: N Biren Singh will continue as chief minister of Manipur, the BJP said on Sunday ending the 10-day suspense over the CM name after the party registered a victory in the assembly elections in the northeast state on March 10. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, one of the BJP central observers, announced that Biren was unanimously elected as the leader of the BJP legislature and as such will continue as the Chief Minister. Following this, Biren visited Governor La Ganesan and staked claim to form government.

"It is a good decision taken unanimously by everyone. It will ensure that Manipur has a stable and responsible government which will build further because the Centre today under the leadership of PM Modi gives special attention to Northeastern states," Sitharaman said. Sithararaman, Kiren Rijiju, and party leader Bhupendra Yadav had landed in Imphal earlier today to attend the crucial party meeting for the formation of the new BJP government in Manipur.

• Immensely grateful to Hon’ble PM Shri. @narendramodi Ji & Hon’ble National Party President Sh @JPNadda Ji for entrusting me to serve as the Leader of the Legislative Party. I thank each and every Karyakarta of @BJP4Manipur for their tireless efforts in bringing a BJP Govt today. pic.twitter.com/rnFcagoVIz

  — N.Biren Singh (@NBirenSingh) March 20, 2022 " class="align-text-top noRightClick twitterSection" data="

  Immensely grateful to Hon’ble PM Shri. @narendramodi Ji & Hon’ble National Party President Sh @JPNadda Ji for entrusting me to serve as the Leader of the Legislative Party. I thank each and every Karyakarta of @BJP4Manipur for their tireless efforts in bringing a BJP Govt today. pic.twitter.com/rnFcagoVIz

  — N.Biren Singh (@NBirenSingh) March 20, 2022

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  Immensely grateful to Hon’ble PM Shri. @narendramodi Ji & Hon’ble National Party President Sh @JPNadda Ji for entrusting me to serve as the Leader of the Legislative Party. I thank each and every Karyakarta of @BJP4Manipur for their tireless efforts in bringing a BJP Govt today. pic.twitter.com/rnFcagoVIz

  — N.Biren Singh (@NBirenSingh) March 20, 2022

• After being elected as the Leader of @BJP4Manipur State Legislature Party, I along with Smt @nsitharaman Ji, Shri @byadavbjp Ji, Shri @KirenRijiju Ji & senior party leaders called on Hon’ble @manipurgovernor Shri La Ganesan Ji and staked claim for forming the next Government. pic.twitter.com/VSXSly1eKU

  — N.Biren Singh (@NBirenSingh) March 20, 2022 " class="align-text-top noRightClick twitterSection" data="

  After being elected as the Leader of @BJP4Manipur State Legislature Party, I along with Smt @nsitharaman Ji, Shri @byadavbjp Ji, Shri @KirenRijiju Ji & senior party leaders called on Hon’ble @manipurgovernor Shri La Ganesan Ji and staked claim for forming the next Government. pic.twitter.com/VSXSly1eKU

  — N.Biren Singh (@NBirenSingh) March 20, 2022

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  After being elected as the Leader of @BJP4Manipur State Legislature Party, I along with Smt @nsitharaman Ji, Shri @byadavbjp Ji, Shri @KirenRijiju Ji & senior party leaders called on Hon’ble @manipurgovernor Shri La Ganesan Ji and staked claim for forming the next Government. pic.twitter.com/VSXSly1eKU

  — N.Biren Singh (@NBirenSingh) March 20, 2022

Who is Biren Singh

On the results that were announced on March 10, N Biren Singh had retained Heingang constituency for the fifth consecutive term by defeating his nearest Congress rival Pangeijam Saratchandra Singh with a margin of over 18,000 votes. A known footballer and a former journalist, Singh first entered politics in 2002 when he had joined the Democratic Revolutionary Peoples' Party, a Manipur-based regional political party. In the same year, he switched over to Congress where he was given the post of Vigilance Minister in the Cabinet led by the then Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh.

Before joining politics, Singh was known for his love for football. He had also joined the Border Security Force (BSF) in sports quota but later quit his job for journalism. Singh had successfully launched and edited a vernacular newspaper Naharolgi Thoudang in 1992 and continued to work as its editor till 2001. During the tenure of the then Congress government led by CM Okram Ibobi Singh between 2002 and 2017, Biren Singh was given several important portfolios like Irrigation, Flood Control, Youth Affairs and Sports.

Biren was also known as one of the close aides of the Okram. However, Singh decided to quit the Congress owing to some differences with the rank and file of the grand old party and joined the BJP in 2016. In 2017, Biren Singh not only won the Heingang constituency on a saffron ticket, but also brought the BJP to power by forging an alliance with NPP, NPF, LJP, and TMC. Singh was elected leader of the BJP legislature party and assumed the office of the Chief Minister of Manipur on March 15, 2017.

While sources in the BJP initially indicated that there would not be any change of guard in the state, the silence of the party top brass had led people in the state to speculate. While Biren Singh was always a strong contender for the top slot, the name of former Minister Th Biswajit Singh had also cropped up. Biswajit was seen as one of the frontrunners for the chief minister's post along with Biren -- both of whom went to Delhi along with other senior leaders after election results were announced.