Nongthombam Biren Singh ( Meitei pronunciation: /nōng-thōm-bam bī-ren sīng/; born 1 January 1961) is an Indian politician, former footballer and journalist, who is currently serving as the

Chief Minister of Manipur The chief minister of Manipur is the chief executive of the Indian state of Manipur. As per the Constitution of India, the governor is a state's ''de jure'' head, but ''de facto'' executive authority rests with the chief minister. Following ele ...

for the second term since 2017. He is the first incumbent Chief Minister who serves as the president of the Lainingthou Sanamahi Temple Board (LSTB), the temple development board of

Lainingthou Sanamahi Laininthou Sanamahee (Meetei: ꯂꯥꯏꯅꯤꯡꯊꯧ ꯁꯥꯅꯥꯃꯍꯤ) is the Supreme Guardian God of mankind and the supreme deity of the household in Meetei religion and mythology. He originated from the ancient kingdom of Kangleipak ...

of the Sanamahi religion. N. Biren Singh was awarded Champions of Change in 2018 for his exceptional work to the nation. The award was conferred by the

Vice-President of India The vice president of India (IAST: ) is the deputy to the head of state of the Republic of India, i.e. the president of India. The office of vice president is the second-highest constitutional office after the president and ranks second in the ...

Sri.

Venkaiah Naidu Muppavarapu Venkaiah Naidu (born 1 July 1949) is an Indian politician who served as the 13th vice president of India from 2017 to 2022. He is the first Indian vice president born in independent India. He has also served as the minister of Hous ...

Vigyan Bhavan Vigyan Bhawan ("science building") is a premier conference centre of the Government of India in New Delhi. Built in 1956, over the years it has been the venue of conferences of national and international stature, seminars and award ceremonies a ...

New Delhi. Turning to politics in 2002, Singh joined the

Democratic Revolutionary Peoples Party The Democratic Revolutionary Peoples Party (DRPP) was a political party in the Indian state of Manipur. The party launched 23 candidates in the state assembly elections in 2002, out of whom two were elected - N. Biren Singh and Thokchom Meiny ...

and won the assembly elections from Heingang. He retained the seat in 2007 contesting with an

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British E ...

ticket Ticket or tickets may refer to: Slips of paper * Lottery ticket * Parking ticket, a ticket confirming that the parking fee was paid (and the time of the parking start) * Toll ticket, a slip of paper used to indicate where vehicles entered a tol ...

after joining the party in 2003. Serving as the Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports, he quit the party in 2016 before joining the

Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a political party in India, and one of the two major Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the ruling political party in India under Narendra Mod ...

. In

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a s ...

, he retained his seat from Heingang again and was named the Chief Minister after his party gained Coalition and formed the government. In

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretariat; The global monkeypo ...

he once again retained his seat from Heingang. He has won the Heingang assembly constituency since 2002. Under Mr. Singh’s leadership that the BJP not only increased its seat share in the Manipur Assembly, from 21 (in 2017) to 32 (in 2022), but had also managed to weather several storms while running a minority government in the last five years.

Early career

He began his career as a footballer and got recruited in the

Border Security Force The Border Security Force (BSF) is India's border guarding organisation on its border with Pakistan and Bangladesh. It is one of the seven Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) of India, and was raised in the wake of the 1965 war on 1 December 1 ...

(BSF) playing for its team in domestic competitions. He resigned from the BSF and turned to journalism. Despite having had no formal training and experience, he began the vernacular daily ''Naharolgi Thoudang'' in 1992 and worked as the editor till 2001.

Political career

Democratic Revolutionary Peoples Party

In 2002, he was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Manipur, as the

(DRPP) candidate in the constituency Heingang.

Indian National Congress

He later joined the

. He was appointed Minister of State of Vigilance in the Manipur state government in May 2003. In 2007 he retained his Assembly seat, contesting on behalf of the

. He was later appointed the Minister of Irrigation & Flood Control and Youth Affairs & Sports in the State Government. In 2012 he again retained his Assembly seat for the third consecutive term. In September 2015, Biren stated that the recently passed bill in the

Manipur Legislative Assembly The Manipur Legislative Assembly is the unicameral legislature of the Indian state of Manipur. See also *Vidhan Sabha * List of districts of Manipur *State governments of India State governments in India are the governments ruling ove ...

to protect indigenous peoples would not harm any community in the state. In October 2016, Biren resigned from the

and the

Manipur Pradesh Congress Committee The Manipur Pradesh Congress Committee (or Manipur PCC) is the unit of the Indian National Congress for the state of Manipur, India. Its head office is situated at the Congress Bhawan, B.T. Road, Imphal. List of Presidents Manipur Legislative ...

, this came after revolt against Okram Ibobi Singh, the then

Bharatiya Janata Party

Singh formally joined the BJP on 17 October 2016 and later became the Spokesperson and Co-convener of the Election Management Committee of BJP Manipur Pradesh. He won the 2017 Manipur Legislative Assembly Election from Heingang Assembly Constituency.

As Chief Minister

In March 2017, he was elected as leader of the BJP Legislature Party in

Manipur Manipur () ( mni, Kangleipak) is a state in Northeast India, with the city of Imphal as its capital. It is bounded by the Indian states of Nagaland to the north, Mizoram to the south and Assam to the west. It also borders two regions of ...

and with a majority of MLAs having been presented to the Governor, he was sworn in as

on 15 March 2017. He is the first-ever BJP Chief Minister in Manipur. In January 2018, he laid the foundation stone for the new academic building of

Public School. The project is undertaken by

Minorities and OBC Economic Development Society (MOBEDS). The cost of the project is estimated to be Rs 10.80 crore under the Union Ministry of Minority Affairs and will include new classrooms, headmaster's room, common rooms, library, laboratories, toilets, and separate hostels for boys and girls. On April 20, 2018, Singh launched the First State-Level Ginger Festival at Parbung in Pherzawl District. The festival will remain one of Singh's legacies in the promotion of agriculture in the hill district which is one of the most backward in the state. Farmers have reported that since 2018 they are able to sell their organic ginger throughout the year. During the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic in India, Manipur became the third State to declare itself coronavirus free after the two patients who had tested positive successfully recovered from the virus. On 17 June 2020, 9 MLAs supporting the N. Biren Singh led government in

revolted against him and withdrew support from his government blaming him for lack of action during the COVID-19 pandemic. During the vote of confidence, he was one of the eight MLAs who had skipped the assembly proceedings defying the party whip for the trust vote. All members resigned from

and later joined

in presence of Ram Madhav,

Baijayant Panda Baijayant "Jay" Panda () is an Indian politician. He is the national vice president and spokesperson of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). He was a Member of Parliament in the 15th and 16th Lok Sabha from Kendrapara. He was also a Member of Par ...

and

Biren Singh.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Singh, N. Biren Indian National Congress politicians Meitei poets Living people 1961 births People from Imphal East district Manipur politicians Manipur MLAs 2017–2022 Bharatiya Janata Party politicians from Manipur Chief ministers from Bharatiya Janata Party Manipur MLAs 2012–2017 Manipur MLAs 2007–2012 Manipur MLAs 2002–2007 Manipur MLAs 2022–2027