BJP scouts for new CM in Manipur after Biren’s exit

N. Biren Singh who resigned as manipur Chief Minister on February 9, 2025. File
| Photo Credit: PTI

A day after Nongthombam Biren Singh resigned as the Chief Minister of restive Manipurthe Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) began scouting for his successor.

Sambit Patra, in charge of the BJP in Manipur, held separate closed-door meetings with each of the party’s MLAs — barring seven belonging to the Kuki-Zo community — in the State’s capital Imphal on Monday (February 10, 2025). He also met the MLAs of the Naga People’s Front, an ally of the BJP, Manipur’s security advisor Kuldiep Singh, and the Hill Areas Committee chairperson Dinganglung Gangmei.

Neither Mr. Patra nor the MLAs provided details on the one-to-one meeting.

“Our discussion was focused on reconciliation and bringing back peace in Manipur,” Minister for Municipal Administration, Housing and Urban Development Yumnam Khemchand told journalists, insisting that selecting the new Chief Minister was the prerogative of the party’s central leadership.

“We accepted the decision (on Mr. Singh’s resignation) taken by our high command. We will abide by any decision that follows,” he said, when asked about the likely candidates for the Chief Minister’s post.

There are unconfirmed reports that the BJP’s central leadership would meet the 10 Kuki-Zo MLAs, including the BJP’s seven, in Delhi, before announcing the name of Mr. Singh’s successor.

A Manipur BJP leader, declining to be named, said the party wanted to take the peace-building process forward. “The State needs to reboot for the sake of development and security. The hunt is for someone acceptable to all communities,” he said.

The non-tribal Meiteis are the largest community in Manipur, concentrated in the Imphal Valley, comprising 40 (along with Jiribam, bordering Assam) of the State’s 60 Assembly seats. The remaining 20 seats are in the hills, divided unequally between the Nagas and the Kuki-Zo people.

Mr. Khemchand is said to be one of the contenders for the Chief Minister’s job. The others are Speaker Thokchom Satyabrata, Public Works Department Minister Konthoujam Govindas, Education Minister Thounaojam Basantakumar, and MLA Thokchom Radheshyam — the last two are former Indian Police Service (IPS) officers.

Earlier, State BJP president A. Sharda Devi dismissed reports of a rift within the party and insisted Mr. Singh had tendered his resignation on Sunday (February 9, 2025), keeping Manipur’s future and the interests of the people in mind.

“He appealed to the Centre to protect Manipur’s integrity. He was saddened by the unrest that took Manipur off the path of development started in 2017 (when Mr. Singh became Chief Minister for the first time),” she said.

Meanwhile, the State Congress said it would oppose any move to impose President’s Rule in Manipur or to place the Assembly under suspended animation. “We want a democratically elected popular government in the larger interest of safeguarding democracy in the State,” party president Keisham Meghachandra said.

Speculation over the imposition of the President’s Rule or protests against Mr. Singh’s resignation had the authorities beef up security across the Imphal Valley, specifically the State capital. The police said the situation was being monitored closely.