Meet N Biren Singh, ex-footballer and journalist, who is first BJP CM to win successive term in Manipur

New Delhi: Footballer-turned-politician N Biren Singh is all set to take oath as Chief Minister of Manipur for the second term on Monday (March 21, 2022) as BJP has returned to power in the state by winning 32 seats in the 60-member House in the recent assembly elections in the state.

BJP leader and acting Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh was born in Imphal in 1961 and graduated from Manipur University. He is married to Hiyainu Devi and the couple has one son and two daughters. The 61-years-old BJP leader was earlier a footballer and later took to journalism before finally switching to politics in 2002. 

Singh played football for the Border Security Force (BSF) team, which won the Durand Cup, defeating Kolkata team Mohun Bagan in 1981. After his innings with the BSF team, he also played several domestic tournaments.

Following his stint as an active football player, Singh took up journalism in 1992. He started working with a regional newspaper `Naharolg go Thoudang` with no formal training. He continued with journalism for two decades. 

Then in 2002, another turn of fate led Singh to take a plunge into politics and made his debut by joining the ranks of the Democratic Revolutionary Peoples` Party. In the same year, the politician contested his first election and won the Heingang Assembly constituency.

Later on, he switched to Congress in 2003 and managed to retain his Heingang seat. N Biren Singh was a minister of vigilance in the Congress government under Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh. In 2007, Singh also became a minister for irrigation, flood control and youth affairs and sports. 

However, there was a fallout between Singh and Okram Ibobi Singh, who was considered his long-time close aide when he was left out of the Cabinet after the 2012 elections. Notably, he won a third consecutive term from the Heingang Assembly seat.

In 2016, he rebelled against the then Chief Minister and joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in October. In the 2017 Assembly polls, Congress faced defeat, falling short of a clear majority. N Biren Singh led the BJP to cobble together a coalition government, becoming the chief minister of the state. 

In 2017, he won the Heingang seat for the fourth term, and also became the first Chief Minister from the BJP. He established his position in the BJP further by winning the 2022 mandate with the party on its own crossing the halfway mark in the Assembly. The BJP won 32 out of 60 Assembly seats in Manipur.

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