N Biren Singh, journalist-turned politician, leads BJP to victory in strife-torn Manipur

Exactly 20 years after he joined politics Nongthombam Biren Singh the former footballer and journalistturned chief minister of Manipur has led BJP to a position where it is set to form the government for a second consecutive termThe 61yearold has been widely credited for bringing peace and bridging the divide between the people of the valley and the hills in this insurgencyhit multiethnic state during his tenure as chief minister in the past five yearsThe man whose initiatives e Go to hills Meeyamgi Numit Peoples Day on 15th of every month and Hill Leaders Day has made it easier for people in far flung hamlets to access their elected leaders and top bureaucrats is considered by many as a grassroots manThe former footballer who later became editor of a vernacular daily Naharolgi Thoudang has managed to strike a chord with the youth promoting entrepreneurship through programmes such as StartUp Manipur as an alternative for young people who were being attracted to insurgencySingh who started off his political journey in 2002 with the Democratic Revolutionary Peoples Party winning from Heingang assembly constituency has however had a chequered political careerAfter winning his maiden electoral contest he switched to Congress and in 2003 became a Minister of State of Vigilance besides holding independent charge for Forest amp Environment ministry in the then Okram Ibobi Singhled governmentHe became one of Ibobi Singhs trusted lieutenant and after retaining his assembly seat in 2007 election was given charge of the Ministry of Irrigation amp Flood Control Youth Affairs amp Sports and Consumer Affairs amp Public DistributionAlthough he retained his seat again in 2012 for a third consecutive term Biren Singh had a fallout with Ibobi Singh against whom he led a revolt In October 2016 he resigned from the Manipur Legislative Assembly and the Manipur Pradesh Congress Committee to join the BJPThere he became the party spokesperson and coconvener of the Election Management Committee of BJP Manipur Pradesh He won from the Heingang assembly constituency for a record 4th time on BJP ticket in 2017 paving the way to his becoming the chief ministerIn the last assembly election although the BJP had won only 21 seats it managed to lure MLAs from Congress which won 28 seats and Biren Singh was sworn in as the first ever BJP Chief Minister in Manipur on March 15 2017While he managed to last the five year term he had faced internal challenges with Thongam Biswajit Singh also eyeing the Chief Ministers postIt remains to be seen how N Biren Singh overcomes the challenges to his leadership in the new termThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever