Imphal, Feb 3 : Sportsman-turned-politician and senior BJP leader Yumnam Khemchand Singh, 61, will become the 13th Chief Minister of Manipur since the Northeastern state attained full statehood on January 21, 1972. â??

After being elected as the BJP Legislature Party leader, Singh expressed his gratitude to BJP National President Nitin Nabin, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah. â??

Taking to his official X account, Singh said: â??I express my sincere gratitude to the Honâ??ble BJP National President Nitin Nabin ji, Honâ??ble Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji, Honâ??ble Union Home Minister Amit Shah ji, and all the respected MLAs of Manipur for their trust in me by electing me as the Leader of the BJP Legislature.â?? â??

Ending months of uncertainty and prolonged parleys over government formation in Manipur, the BJP on Tuesday announced that former Assembly Speaker Khemchand Singh will be the stateâ??s next Chief Minister. â??

The BJP legislature party, after a meeting at the party headquarters in New Delhi, announced that Khemchand Singh had been elected as the partyâ??s Legislature Party Leader. â??

He will soon take over as Chief Minister of Manipur, where Presidentâ??s Rule has been in force since February 13 last year following the resignation of then Chief Minister N. Biren Singh amid prolonged ethnic violence. â??

BJP leaders said that Khemchand Singh was elected as the Legislature Party Leader at a meeting in the national capital attended by BJP MLAs from Manipur, along with the partyâ??s newly appointed Central Observer Tarun Chugh and BJP Northeast coordinator Sambit Patra, among other senior leaders. â??

Yumnam Khemchand Singh, a sportsman-turned-politician and founder of the Assam Taekwondo Association in the neighbouring state, earlier served as the Speaker of the Manipur Legislative Assembly. â??

During his ministerial career, he held several key portfolios, including Municipal Administration and Housing Development (MAHUD), Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, and Education. â??

A member of the majority Meitei community, Singh served as Speaker of the Manipur Assembly from 2017 to 2022 and was elected twice from the Singjamei constituency in Imphal West district as a BJP candidate in the 2017 and 2022 Assembly elections. He was appointed a Cabinet Minister in the second N. Biren Singh-led ministry following the BJPâ??s second consecutive victory in the 2022 Manipur Assembly elections. â??

Singh served as a minister from March 20, 2022, until the imposition of Presidentâ??s Rule in Manipur on February 13, 2025. Known within the BJP as a grassroots organiser with strong organisational credentials, Singh was engaged in business before entering active politics. He is also a long-time Taekwondo practitioner, having begun training in his youth. â??

Recently, he was awarded the prestigious 5th-Dan Black Belt in traditional Taekwondo by the Global Traditional Taekwondo Federation, Seoul, South Korea â?? an advanced rank signifying decades of discipline and mastery. He is a former Vice President of the Taekwondo Federation of India (TFI) and was closely associated with the early institutional development of the sport in Indiaâ??s Northeast. â??

Considered a non-polarising figure, Singh is widely viewed as acceptable across internal party factions during a period of political transition in Manipur. â??

Political observers describe him as a steady administrative choice amid prolonged political uncertainty. In a significant gesture since ethnic violence erupted in Manipur in May 2023, Khemchand Singh recently visited the tribal-majority districts of Ukhrul and Kamjong, marking the first outreach by any Meitei leader to the hill areas since the conflict began. â??

Political observers termed the move exemplary and path-breaking, aimed at restoring ethnic harmony between the majority Meitei community and the Kuki-Zo tribals.â??

During his visit, Singh travelled to Litan and Chassad villages, where he interacted closely with tribal residents. Litan falls under the Ukhrul district, while Chassad is located in the Kamjong district â?? both Naga-majority areas also inhabited by Kuki-Zo tribals. â??

He also visited two Kuki villages in the hill districts as a confidence-building measure, breaking the ice for the first time in 33 months since ethnic conflict erupted between the Meitei and Kuki-Zo communities. Travelling to Litan, a Kuki hamlet in Ukhrul district bordering Myanmar, the 61-year-old BJP leader interacted with villagers and enquired about the hardships faced over the past two-and-a-half years. â??

He visited a Kuki relief camp at Litan Sareikhong Baptist Church and interacted with inmates who had fled their homes during the violence. As Rural Development Minister, Singh facilitated a central package for the construction of 7,000 houses for internally displaced persons. He had also earlier organised a relief camp for displaced Meitei families at Manipur College in Imphal, which operated for over seven months. â??

The legislator also helped displaced families return to their homes in Serou and Sugunu villages. â??

Hopingson Shimray, state BJP vice president and prominent Tangkhul Naga leader who accompanied Singh during the visit, said it was a remarkable gesture for a leader to travel to Kuki villages in the hills at a time when many are reluctant to enter areas dominated by other communities. He said that Yumnam Singh is the first BJP Meitei MLA to visit a Kuki relief camp. â??

Another Tangkhul Naga leader, Mark Luithing, former Autonomous District Council (ADC) chairman, said that Singh was the first leader to initiate people-to-people contact following the May 2023 violence. â??

He added that Singh also visited Chassad Kuki village in Kamjong district, bordering Myanmar. More than 260 people were killed, around 1,500 were injured, and over 70,000 were displaced after ethnic violence broke out between the Meitei and Kuki-Zo communities on May 3, 2023, following a â??Tribal Solidarity Marchâ?? organised in the hill districts to protest the Meitei communityâ??s demand for Scheduled Tribe status. â??

Manipur has been under Presidentâ??s Rule since February 13, four days after the resignation of N. Biren Singh from the Chief Ministerâ??s post. â??

(Sujit Chakraborty can be contacted at sujitchakrabortyne@gmail.com) â??

/IANS