Manipur: T Biswajit Singh in race for CM post; summoned to Delhi with N Biren Singh

In a massive development on Tuesday, sources told Republic TV that Thongam Biswajit Singh is also in the race to become the next Chief Minister of Manipur. Elected to the Assembly in 2012 on a TMC ticket, he switched over to BJP and won the Thongju by-election in 2015. After retaining the seat in the 2017 Assembly polls, he was inducted into the Manipur government and given the charge of Public Works Department, Rural Development, Panchayati Raj, Commerce & Industries, Power, Administrative Reforms & Training and Information & Public Relations.

He continued his winning run in Thongju in the 2022 polls by defeating Congress' Seram Neken Singh by a margin of over 6000 votes. As per sources, he has been summoned by the party high command to Delhi along with CM N Biren Singh who was expecting to be named the CM once again. While N Biren Singh had tendered his resignation on March 11, he was asked to continue in office until the new government takes charge. Meanwhile, BJP has appointed Union Ministers Nirmala Sitharaman and Kiren Rijiju as the observers for the selection of the Legislative Party leader. 

BJP pulls off win in Manipur

While BJP formed the government in 2017 with the support of the National Peoples’ Party and Naga Peoples’ Front, it contested all 60 seats this time. In a bid to emerge as kingmakers in a post-poll scenario, NPP and NPF contested 38 and 10 seats on their own. Meanwhile, Congress, CPI, CPI(M), Forward Block, RSP and JD(S) formed a pre-poll tie-up - the Manipur Progressive Secular Alliance. Ultimately, the saffron party emerged as the single-largest party by winning 32 out of 60 seats with 37.83% vote share whereas Congress bagged only 5 seats.

The extent of Congress' poll debacle was reflected by the fact that JD(U) candidates emerged victorious in 6 constituencies. On the other hand, NPP, NPF and Kuki People's Alliance won 7, 5 and 2 seats respectively. While NPF and JD(U) have already extended support to BJP for government formation, NDA ally NPP is also keeping the option of a post-poll alliance open.