Yumnam Khemchand Singh sworn in as Manipur CM

• BJP MLA Yumnam Khemchand Singh became the 13th Chief Minister of Manipur on February 4.

• The 62-year-old leader was administered the oath of office and secrecy by Governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla at a ceremony held at the Lok Bhavan, hours after the President’s rule was revoked in the state.

• BJP MLA Nemcha Kipgen, who belongs to the Kuki community, and Naga People’s Front legislator L. Dikho took oath as the deputy Chief Ministers of Manipur. 

• Manipur gets a new CM nearly a year after the resignation of BJP leader N. Biren Singh following months of ethnic violence between Meitei and Kuki communities in the state, leading to the imposition of President’s rule.

President’s rule in Manipur

• Manipur has been under the President’s rule since February 13, 2025 under article 356 of the Constitution. 

• 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 1,000 of them and recovering more than 3,000 arms. 

• The formation of the new government comes at a time when the strife-torn state is trying to move forward towards normalcy.

• Manipur has been witnessing ethnic violence since May 3, 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.

Who is Khemchand Singh?

• Khemchand Singh is a long-time RSS functionary and an organisation-focused leader who has held key constitutional and ministerial positions in the state.

• Born at Singjamei Yumnam Leikai, he completed his High School Leaving Certificate in 1978 from Ram Lal Paul High School in Imphal.

• Khemchand Singh first contested in the 2012 Assembly polls on an All India Trinamool Congress ticket, but lost to a Congress candidate. 

• He formally joined the BJP in 2013.

• The 62-year-old leader made his debut in the Assembly in 2017 from Singjamei constituency in Imphal West district.

• Singh was elected Speaker of the Assembly, a position he held during the first Biren Singh-led BJP government in the state.

• In 2022, he was inducted into the second Biren Singh ministry as a Cabinet Minister and held key portfolios, including municipal administration, housing and urban development (MAHUD), rural development and panchayati raj, and education departments.

• He served in the Cabinet till February 2025, when President’s rule was imposed in the state.

• Apart from politics, he has had a long association with Taekwondo. 

• A black belt holder, he is a former vice-president of the Taekwondo Federation of India and has been involved in the promotion of the sport in the Northeast.