NEW DELHI: Yumnam Khemchand Singh, a former Manipur assembly speaker, second-term MLA and a taekwondo master, is set to be the new CM of the state after BJP MLAs elected him as their leader on Tuesday, paving the way for the installation of a popular govt to replace President’s Rule imposed on Feb 13 last year.Keen to project a message of ethnic reconciliation in the north-eastern state, which was rocked by Meitei versus Kuki violence, BJP is considering appointing two deputy CMs — one each from the Kuki and Naga communities, with Singh being a Meitei. Nemcha Kipgen, a Kuki figure and former minister, is likely to be one of the deputy CMs. Singh (62), a second-term MLA from Singjamei in Imphal, is seen as the most acceptable choice in the state.

Yumnam Khemchand Singh: Two-term MLA

Violence in Manipur has declinedbut situation is still far from idealThough the violence in Manipur has declined, the situation is far from ideal as both the communities are largely confined to regions of their dominance in the state.Singh was elected as the leader at a meeting of 35 of 37 BJP MLAs — two were absent due to illness — at the party headquarters in presence of central observer Tarun Chugh and the party’s in-charge for northeast region Sambit Patra.His visit to relief camps housing Kukis on Dec 8 made him the only Meitei MLA to do so. While he was the speaker between 2017 to 2022, Singh — who was last year awarded a fifth-dan black — served as a minister in the second Biren Singh govt, holding several key portfolios.While a big majority of BJP MLAs is from the Meitei community, the party also has Kuki and Naga MLAs, and enjoys support of several MLAs from different communities and parties. BJP allies were also called to Delhi.