NEW DELHI: Manipur on Wednesday got a new chief minister with the swearing-in of BJP MLA Yumnam Khemchand Singh, a taekwondo exponent and senior party leader, nearly a year after the state was placed under President’s Rule. Singh’s appointment follows the resignation of former chief minister N Biren Singh amid criticism over the handling of ethnic violence between Meiteis and Kukis that began in May 2023.
Who is Yumnam Khemchand Singh?
Singh has represented the Singjamei constituency since 2017. He previously served as Speaker of the Manipur Assembly from 2017 to 2022 and as a cabinet minister in the second Biren Singh government, holding portfolios including MAHUD, rural development, Panchayati Raj and education. A practising martial artist since the age of 16, he introduced taekwondo to Assam and Manipur in the early 1980s and is the founder of the All Assam Taekwondo Association. A black belt holder, he earlier served as vice-president of the Taekwondo Federation of India.In October 2024, he became the first Indian to be awarded the 5th Dan black belt in traditional South Korean taekwondo.Singh had recently drawn attention for visiting Kuki-Zo villages in Ukhrul and Kamjong, marking the first outreach by a Meitei MLA across ethnic lines since the outbreak of violence. Khemchand made his electoral debut in the 2012 Assembly elections on an All India Trinamool Congress ticket but was defeated by a Congress nominee. He joined the BJP the following year. A native of Singjamei Yumnam Leikai, he passed his high school leaving certificate examination in 1978 from Ram Lal Paul High School in Imphal. He is married and has a son.The BJP holds 37 seats in the House and is supported by NDA allies including the NPP, NPF and Independents. More than 260 people have been killed and thousands displaced in the ethnic clashes, making the restoration of peace a key challenge before the new chief minister.
