Imphal, Feb 4 : Manipur got a new chief minister, one year after the resignation of BJP leader N Biren Singh, whose second tenure as the CM witnessed the outbreak of ethnic violence between the Meitei and Kuki communities in May 2023.
NDA legislature party leader Y Khemchand Singh, a veteran politician, administrator and Taekwondo black belt, was sworn in as the chief minister of Manipur on Wednesday.
Biren Singh relinquished the post on February 9 last year amid rumblings within the state BJP seeking a change of leadership in strife-torn Manipur. The opposition was also demanding his resignation for allegedly failing to bring the situation under control.
His government had clamped curfew and suspended internet access in the months following the outbreak of violence, but attacks and killings continued, arsons went on, and people from both sides were forced to flee their homes.
In August 2023, Biren Singh alleged that certain misunderstandings, actions of vested interests and foreign conspiracies to destabilise Manipur led to the violence.
The CM was accused by the Kuki Zo community of being involved in the ethnic violence, which was characterised by gunfights between armed groups of the two warring communities, prompting the public to protest.
Intermittent violence continued during the following months, and pressure mounted on Biren Singh from inside the ruling BJP and outside.
The Kuki-Zo leaders also demanded a separate administrative unit for the community.
On January 3, 2025, former Union home secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla was sworn in as the governor of the state.
Biren Singh left for Delhi on five days later and held a meeting with Union Home Minister Amit Shah. The CM returned to Imphal on February 9 and tendered his resignation to Bhalla. The governor accepted his resignation and asked him to continue in office till alternative arrangements are made.
Presidents’ Rule was imposed in the state on February 13, as the BJP could not find a consensus Chief Ministerial candidate. An assembly session could not be convened because of constitutional obligations. The 60-member state assembly, the tenure of which is till 2027, was put under suspended animation.
After the imposition of the President’s rule, Governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla had taken a number of steps to restore peace and bring back normalcy, including asking those who looted arms from security forces to surrender them.
The ethnic violence between the Meitei and Kuki communities started in May 2023 after a ‘Tribal Solidarity March’ was organised in the hill districts to protest against the Meitei community’s demand for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status. At least 260 people lost their lives, and thousands were displaced during the violence.
During the President’s Rule, the state witnessed a decline in gun-firing incidents between the two warring groups. Security forces launched widespread operations in the hills and valley districts of the state against armed miscreants and militants, leading to the arrest of over 1000 of them and recovering more than 3000 arms.
In November 2025, BJP national general secretary (organisation) BL Santhosh and North East coordinator Sambit Patra arrived for a three day visit to the state. They met BJP MLAs and leaders from Meitei, Kuki and Naga communities in Imphal, Churachandpur and Senapati districts.
BJP central leadership summoned the party’s MLAs to New Delhi for a meeting on December 14. Thirty-four saffron party MLAs attended the meeting, including Speaker Th Satyabrata Singh and Biren Singh. Among the seven BJP legislators from the Kuki community, four took part in the meet.
The saffron party again called a meeting of Manipur leaders on Tuesday, and Y Khemchand Singh was elected as the new CM.
The legislature party meeting will be held days ahead of the expiry of the second spell of the President’s rule, which was first imposed on February 13, 2025, for six months and then extended for another six months in August 2025.
Currently, there are 37 BJP MLAs in Manipur. Originally, a total of 32 BJP MLAs had won the 2022 assembly elections.
The JD(U) had won six seats, and five of its MLAs later defected to the BJP, taking the strength of the saffron party to 37.
Among the other MLAs, six are from the National People’s Party (NPP), five from the Naga People’s Front, five from the Congress, two from the Kuki People’s Alliance (KPA) , one from Janata Dal (United) and three Independents. There is one vacant seat following the death of a sitting MLA. (PTI)
