Manipur is set to get a new Chief Minister this month after spending nearly a year under Presidential Rule. BJP leader Yumnam Khemchand Singh was elected as the legislature party leader on Tuesday — paving the way for creation of a popular government in the northeastern state. The developments came even as the Opposition Congress approached the Manipur Congress approached the High Court seeking dissolution of the state Assembly.
“He has one of the cleanest images among the MLAs. He is someone who believes in action rather than words as evident by developmental works in his constituency. His election shows the Centre’s clear intention to restore peace and normalcy in the state. He is someone who is acceptable to all the communities, including the Nagas and the Kukis,” BJP spokesperson Laimayum Bashanta Sharma told PTI.
ALSO READ2 British tourists served ‘leave India’ notice in Rajasthan’s Pushkar over anti-Israel stickers: What we know
Manipur has been witnessing ethnic violence since May 2023, after a tribal solidarity march was taken out in the hill districts, in protest against the majority Meitei community’s demand for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status.Since then, at least 260 people, including members of both the Kuki and Meitei communities as well as security personnel, have been killed in the violence, while thousands become homeless. The state has been under the President’s Rule since February last year.
Who is Yumnam Khemchand Singh?
Sixty-two-year-old Y Khemchand Singh, a Taekwondo player, has been elected to the Manipur Legislative Assembly in 2017 and 2022 from Singjamei constituency as a BJP candidate.
On December 8 last year, he became the first Meitei MLA to visit relief camps housing internally displaced persons from the Kuki community at Ukhrul’s Litan and Chassad in Kamjong district. He interacted with the Kuki IDPs.
ALSO READPM Modi buckled under pressure, farmers’ hard work ‘sold out’: Rahul Gandhi leads opposition protest over India-US trade deal
He had earlier served as Speaker of Manipur Assembly from 2017 to 2022.
In 2022, he was appointed as a cabinet minister in the second Biren Singh government, holding the portfolios of Municipal Administration and Housing Development (MAHUD), Rural Development and Panchayati Raj and the Education departments.
Manipur has been under President’s rule since February 13, 2025. The 60-member assembly was put on suspended animation after President’s rule was imposed.
ALSO READTrump to build India Gate replica in US? POTUS shares pic of monument, calls it ‘beautiful triumphal arch’
Congress seeks dissolution of Assembly
Manipur Pradesh Congress Committee president, K. Meghachandra, has moved the High Court of Manipur on what he alleges are the unconstitutional acts of Manipur Governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla under Article 174(1) and for dissolution of the remainder of the 12th Manipur Legislative Assembly under Article 174(2) of the Constitution. On January 29, Meghachandra approached the court through a writ petition. The petition challenged the actions of the Governor under Article 174 of the Indian Constitution for the Chief Justice to consider via an appropriate Division Bench. |
