• Manipur Chief Minister N. Biren Singh tendered his resignation to Governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla at the Raj Bhavan in Imphal on February 9.

• The governor accepted Singh’s resignation, along with that of his council of ministers, and requested that he continue in office until alternative arrangements are made.

• His tenure as Manipur CM has been marked by a number of controversies.

• Singh, who started as a footballer, then became a journalist before entering politics, served as the Chief Minister for two terms — 2017 and 2022. He represents the Heingang Assembly constituency in Imphal East district.

• Singh entered politics in 2002, when he joined the Democratic Revolutionary People’s Party and won the Assembly polls. He retained the seat five years later in 2007 while contesting on a Congress ticket after joining the party in 2003.

• In a short time, Singh became one of the then CM Ibobi Singh’s trusted lieutenant and was made the minister of irrigation & flood control, youth affairs and sports, and consumer affairs & public distribution.

• Although he retained his seat in 2012 for a third consecutive term, Singh had a fallout with Ibobi Singh. Eventually finding it difficult to continue, he resigned from the Congress and joined the BJP in October 2016.

• In March 2017 elections, where the Congress emerged as the single largest party but without a clear majority to swing sufficient numbers its way, saw BJP cobble together a coalition government with Biren Singh as the Chief Minister.

• In 2022, he managed to win the approval of his party to get a second term as CM.

• The journey since then has been not without hiccups.

• One of the most significant controversies of Singh’s tenure was the ethnic violence that erupted in May 2023. The ethnic strife, which saw brutal clashes between the majority Meitei community in the Imphal Valley and the Kuki-Zo tribal groups in the surrounding hills, resulted in over 250 deaths and displaced thousands of people. The state’s inability to contain it raised serious concerns about Singh’s leadership.

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