Imphal: Manipur, which has been under President’s Rule since February 13, 2025, is finally set to get a new Chief Minister. BJP MLA Yumnam Khemchand Singh is set to become the new Chief Minister of the state.
The decision was taken during the Manipur NDA legislative party meeting held in Delhi. The BJP officially initiated the process of forming the government in Manipur on Monday by appointing the party’s national general secretary, Tarun Chugh, as the central observer to oversee the process. Singh was elected as the legislature party leader in Manipur on Tuesday.
Who is Yumnam Khemchand Singh?
BJP MLA Yumnam Khemchand Singh is the sole Meitei MLA who proactively reached across the aisle to visit a Kuki-Zo relief camp recently. The 62-year-old Singh is serving his second term as an MLA. He served as the Speaker of the Manipur Legislative Assembly from 2017 to 2022.
Khemchand began his political career alongside Biren Singh in 2002 as part of the Democratic Revolutionary People’s Party, which was formed in the aftermath of an agitation by Meitei groups against the Government of India’s extension of its 1997 ceasefire with the Naga insurgent group NSCN (IM). He joined the BJP in 2013.
Between 2022 and 2025, he held key ministerial portfolios, serving as Minister for Rural Development, Panchayati Raj, and the Education Department.
Apart from politics, he made history by becoming the first Indian to receive the 5th Dan black belt in traditional Taekwondo, awarded by the Global Traditional Taekwondo Federation in Seoul.
