N. Biren Singh was sworn in as Chief Minister of Manipur in Imphal on Wednesday. The oath of office was administered by Governor Najma Heptulla. Eight others were also sworn in, taking the number of Ministers in the BJP-led government to nine.
Yumnan Joykumar Singh of the National People's Party (NPP) was appointed as the Deputy Chief Minister. The lawmaker from the Uripok Assembly constituency is a former Director General of Police from the State.
Three other MLAs from the NPP also find a place in the Cabinet, which also includes Losi Dikho from the Naga People’s Front (NPF). He won from the Mao Assembly segment.
Both the NPP and the NPF have four MLAs each, who have given their support to the BJP.
Karan Shyam, only MLA from the Lok Jan Shakti Party, was also sworn in as a Minister. Among the BJP MLAs, only T. Biswajit Singh, MLA from Thongu, has been inducted into the Cabinet.
T. Shyamkumar, Congress MLA from Andro, who defected to the BJP, was also in the list of Ministers.
Governor for stability
Ms. Heptulla said she was aware that the Congress had emerged as the single largest party but it was not “incumbent on a Governor” to necessarily call the single largest party.
“The responsibility of the Governor is to see who has got the majority, who will be working for the interest of the State and have the stability,” she told journalists at the Raj Bhavan.
