Yumnam Khemchand Singh, 62, was elected Legislature Celebration Chief of the Bharatiya Janata Celebration in Manipur on Tuesday (February 3, 2026), paving the way in which for the restoration of an elected authorities within the ethnic strife-hit northeastern State. With the election, Mr. Singh is ready to turn into the Chief Minister of the State.
In line with sources, Nemcha Kipgen, a Kuki-Zo MLA from Kangpokpi is more likely to be appointed Deputy Chief Minister. She would be the first lady and the primary Kuki-Zo to carry the submit. One other Deputy CM is more likely to be from the Naga Individuals’s Entrance, the BJP’s alliance companion. The assembly was attended by Members of the Legislative Meeting (MLAs) from Meitei, Kuki-Zo and Naga communities.
The Manipur BJP, in a submit on X, mentioned, “Heartiest congratulations to Hon’ble Shri @YKhemchandSingh on being elected because the BJP Legislature Celebration Chief of Manipur. On behalf of BJP Manipur Pradesh, we want you nice success. Your expertise, dedication, and management will additional strengthen the occasion and serve the aspirations of the individuals of Manipur.”
Mr. Singh posted on X, “I specific my honest gratitude to the Hon’ble BJP Nationwide President @NitinNabin ji, Hon’ble Prime Minister @narendramodi ji, Hon’ble Union Dwelling Minister @AmitShah ji, & all of the revered MLAs of @BJP4Manipur for his or her belief in me by electing me because the Chief of the BJP Legislature.”
Manipur was positioned beneath President’s Rule on February 13, 2025, and the State Meeting was positioned beneath suspended animation. The tenure of the State Meeting ends in February 2027.
‘Acceptable alternative’
Mr. Singh, MLA from Singjamei, former Speaker of the State Meeting, and a Taekwondo participant, is alleged to be an appropriate alternative for the Chief Minister’s submit amongst Kuki-Zo MLAs and has the backing of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), sources mentioned.
Tarun Chugh, the BJP’s central observer for the election of Legislature Celebration Chief, informed The Hindu that Y. Khemchand Singh’s title was propped by former Chief Minister N. Biren Singh, and on Wednesday, the leaders would meet Governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla to stake declare to kind the federal government.
On December 8, in a primary such try, Mr. Singh, who belongs to the bulk Meitei neighborhood, visited two Kuki-Zo villages within the two Naga-dominated districts of Ukhrul and Kamjong. He additionally met the Kuki-Zo individuals residing at a close-by reduction camp, who had been displaced from their houses in Imphal Valley through the Might 2023 ethnic violence. The violence between the tribal Kuki-Zo and the Meitei individuals, which began on Might 3, 2023, claimed the lives of greater than 250 individuals and displaced greater than 60,000 individuals from their houses ever since.
There are 37 BJP MLAs, together with seven Kuki-Zo legislators, within the 60-member Manipur Meeting. 5 Kuki-Zo MLAs attended Tuesday’s assembly. In all, there are 10 Kuki-Zo MLAs within the Meeting.
Six MLAs within the Meeting are from the Nationwide Individuals’s Celebration (NPP) and 5 from the Naga Individuals’s Entrance.
Not all BJP Kuki-Zo MLAs are on board
Although the Tuesday’s (February 3) assembly was attended by 5 Kuki-Zo MLAs, not all of them had been on board.
Paolienlal Haokip, BJP MLA from Saikot in Churachandpur who belongs to the Kuki-Zo neighborhood, informed The Hindu that he met occasion leaders individually and informed them that until there was an assurance on a political resolution for the neighborhood, he wouldn’t be part of the federal government. Kuki-Zo civil society teams and the rebel teams in suspension of operations pact (SoO) with the federal government are demanding a Union Territory with Legislative Meeting for the Kuki-Zo areas. The demand for a separate administration was first mooted by the Kuki-Zo MLAs in 2023.
“The BJP occasion leaders, together with Mr. Santhosh (occasion nationwide basic secretary),mentioned that the collective knowledge can be to affix the federal government after which discover a political resolution. I informed them that the scenario will flare up once more in the event that they go forward with authorities formation. I perceive it’s the place of the occasion; however for me, my individuals are above the occasion; the core points must be addressed first,” Mr. Haokip, who skipped the BJP legislative occasion assembly, mentioned.
On Tuesday (February 3, 2026), at a gathering of the BJP’s elected representatives referred to as by BJP’s nationwide basic secretary B.L. Santhosh, Mr. Khemchand Singh was elected because the BJP’s Legislature Celebration Chief. Mr. Biren Singh, whose resignation as Chief Minister on February 9, 2025, triggered a political disaster within the State and which was adopted by the imposition of President’s Rule, was current on the dais when Mr. Khemchand Singh was felicitated within the presence of Mr. Santhosh, BJP’s Manipur in-charge Sambit Patra, Mr. Tarun Chugh and BJP Manipur president A. Sharda Devi.
‘Again-channel efforts’
Over the previous three days, the BJP central management requested all its legislators in addition to alliance companions from Manipur to be current in New Delhi for an important assembly.
Wilubou Newmai, a BJP chief from Manipur who was additionally a part of a defunct peace committee constituted in 2023, mentioned, “Loads of back-channel efforts went in to carry all of the communities collectively.”
As reported by The Hindu on January 7, since there isn’t a provision to increase President’s Rule past the one-year interval with out transferring a constitutional modification invoice in Parliament, the federal government was inclined to train all choices to revive the elected authorities, bringing the Meitei, Kuki-Zo and Naga legislators on the identical web page. On August 5, 2025, Parliament permitted the extension of President’s Rule in Manipur for an additional six-months until February 13.
The political exercise is the end result of a collection of safety assessment conferences chaired by Union Dwelling Minister Amit Shah and Union Dwelling Secretary Govind Mohan on January 2 and January 5 respectively, the place the “execs and cons of restoration of an elected authorities was mentioned.”
Revealed – February 03, 2026 07:28 pm IST
