IMPHAL: Nongthombam Biren Singh, a national level football player turned politician, was on Monday sworn in as the Chief Minister of Manipur. Manipur Governor La Ganesan administered the oath of office and secrecy to Biren Singh at a ceremony held at the Raj Bhavan.
61-year-old Biren Singh, who turned to politics in the year 2002, has become the Chief Minister of the state for the second time in a row. Along with this swearing-in ceremony, five members of his cabinet were also sworn in.
N Biren Singh, Thongam Biswajit Singh, Yumnam Khemchand Singh, Govinddas K Singh, Nemcha Kipzen and Awangbou Numai from the Naga People's Front took oath as ministers from the BJP. At present, Nemcha Kipzen has become the only woman minister in Biren Singh's cabinet.
Biren Singh, who started his career as a football player, has worked in the Border Security Force (BSF). Later, he stepped into journalism by resigning from BSF. Despite not having any formal training and experience, he started a daily newspaper in the local language called 'Nahrolgi Thoudang' in 1992 and worked as editor in it till 2001.
In a Twitter post, Singh then thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party president Nadda for “entrusting me with the responsibility of leading the party”.
In 2002, Biren Singh joined the Democratic Revolutionary People's Party and reached the assembly for the first time by winning the election from Hingang assembly constituency. But he joined the Congress in 2003 and remained in the Congress government as a cabinet minister till February 2012. In 2016, Biren Singh broke away from the Congress and joined the Bharatiya Janata Party.
Union ministers Nirmala Sitharaman, Kiren Rijiju, Bhupendra Yadav, BJP national president JP Nadda and party's national spokesperson Sambit Patra were present at the swearing-in ceremony.