Yumnam Khemchand Singh new Manipur CM, President’s Rule withdrawn

the northeastern state hadbeen under President Rule since February 13, 2025.

Imphal: Yumnam Khemchand Singh took oath as Manipur’s new Chief Minister on Wednesday, February 4, almost a year after President’s rule was imposed in the northeastern state over violence between  the majority Meiteis and the minority Kuki community

The 60-member Assembly, which has tenure till 2027, was suspended after President’s rule was imposed on February 13, 2025, four days after then-chief minister N Biren Singh resigned.

The unrest had left more than 260 people killed, around 1,500 injured and over 70,000 displaced after it 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.

Yumnam Khemchand Singh will lead the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government in the state.

Earlier, Khemchand Singh, accompanied by the newly appointed central observer Tarun Chugh, the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) northeast coordinator Sambit Patra, former chief minister Biren Singh, state BJP president Adhikarimayum Sharda Devi and a few MLAs, met the Governor at the Lok Bhavan and staked claim to form the government.

The Governor then invited him to form the government, the official added.

There is speculation that the new BJP government may have one or two Deputy Chief Ministers and that two MLAs from the Kuki-Zo community are likely to be included.

Ending months of uncertainty and prolonged parleys over government formation in Manipur, the BJP on Tuesday, February 3, announced that former Assembly speaker and minister 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 party 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.