Manipur gets new chief minister year after Biren Singh's exit

Manipur has a new chief minister nearly a year after the resignation of BJP leader N. Biren Singh, whose second term in office coincided with the outbreak of violent ethnic clashes between the Meitei and Kuki communities in May 2023.

Senior NDA legislature party leader Y. Khemchand Singh, a veteran politician, administrator and Taekwondo black belt, was sworn in as Manipur’s chief minister on Wednesday, 4 February.

Biren Singh stepped down on 9 February last year amid growing disquiet within the state BJP, with party colleagues seeking a leadership change in the violence-hit state. Opposition parties had also been pressing for his resignation, accusing him of failing to restore normalcy.

Following the eruption of violence, the Biren Singh government imposed prolonged curfews and suspended internet services across large parts of the state. Despite these measures, killings, arson attacks and armed assaults continued, forcing thousands from both communities to flee their homes.

In August 2023, Biren Singh claimed the violence was triggered by misunderstandings, the actions of vested interests and alleged foreign conspiracies aimed at destabilising Manipur.

Leaders of the Kuki-Zo community accused the chief minister of complicity in the violence, which saw armed groups from both sides engage in gunfights, triggering public protests and further unrest.

Sporadic violence persisted over the following months, intensifying pressure on Biren Singh from within the ruling BJP as well as from Opposition parties. Kuki-Zo leaders also renewed demands for a separate administrative arrangement for their community.

On 3 January 2025, former Union home secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla was sworn in as governor of Manipur. Five days later, Biren Singh travelled to Delhi to meet Union home minister Amit Shah. He returned to Imphal on 9 February and tendered his resignation to the governor, who accepted it and asked him to continue until alternative arrangements were made.

President’s Rule was imposed in Manipur on 13 February after the BJP failed to reach consensus on a new chief ministerial candidate. The state Assembly could not be convened owing to constitutional requirements, and the 60-member House — whose term runs until 2027 — was placed under suspended animation.

During President’s Rule, governor Bhalla initiated several measures to restore peace, including appeals for the surrender of weapons looted from security forces during the unrest.

The ethnic conflict between the Meitei and Kuki communities had erupted in May 2023 following a ‘Tribal Solidarity March’ in the hill districts opposing the Meitei community’s demand for Scheduled Tribe status. At least 260 people were killed and thousands displaced in the violence.

Officials reported a reduction in gunfights between rival groups during President’s Rule. Security forces carried out extensive operations in both hill and valley areas, arresting more than 1,000 militants and armed miscreants and recovering over 3,000 weapons.

In November 2025, BJP national general-secretary (organisation) B.L. Santhosh and the party’s Northeast coordinator Sambit Patra undertook a three-day visit to Manipur, meeting party MLAs and leaders from the Meitei, Kuki and Naga communities in Imphal, Churachandpur and Senapati.

Notably, Prime Minister Narendra Modi remained absent from Manipur for over two years after ethnic violence erupted in May 2023, even as hundreds were killed, thousands displaced and the state slid into prolonged curfews and President’s Rule.

His first visit came only on September 13, 2025 — a brief, day-long trip — after large-scale violence had ebbed and administrative control had effectively shifted to the governor. Critics said the delayed, tightly choreographed visit appeared more symbolic than substantive, reinforcing Opposition claims that New Delhi engaged with Manipur only after the worst political and human costs had already been borne on the ground.

The BJP’s central leadership later summoned Manipur MLAs to New Delhi for talks on 14 December. Thirty-four BJP legislators attended, including Speaker Th Satyabrata Singh and Biren Singh. Of the seven BJP MLAs from the Kuki community, four participated in the meeting.

The party held another meeting of Manipur leaders on Tuesday, at which Khemchand Singh was elected as the new chief minister. The decision came just days before the expiry of the second spell of President’s Rule, which was first imposed in February 2025 for six months and extended for another six months in August.

Manipur currently has 37 BJP MLAs. The party had originally won 32 seats in the 2022 Assembly elections, with its strength increasing after five of the six JD(U) MLAs defected to the BJP.

Among the remaining legislators, six belong to the National People’s Party, five to the Naga People’s Front, five to the Congress, two to the Kuki People’s Alliance, one to the JD(U) and three are Independents. One Assembly seat remains vacant following the death of a sitting MLA.

With PTI inputs