N. Biren Singh

Nongthombam Biren Singh (Meitei pronunciation: /nōng-thōm-bam bī-ren sīng/; born 1 January 1961) is an Indian politician, former footballer and journalist who served as the 12th Chief Minister of Manipur from 2017 to 2025 as a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party. He has represented the Heingang Assembly constituency in the Manipur Legislative Assembly since 2002. Besides being the chairman of Shree Govindaji Temple Board, he is the first incumbent Chief Minister who serves as the president of the Lainingthou Sanamahi Temple Board (LSTB), the temple development board of Lainingthou Sanamahi of the Sanamahi religion since 2021. Joining politics in 2002, Biren joined the Democratic Revolutionary Peoples Party and won the assembly elections from Heingang. He retained the seat in 2007, contesting on an Indian National Congress ticket after joining the party in 2003. Serving as the Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports, he quit the party in 2016 before joining the Bharatiya Janata Party. In 2017, he retained his seat from Heingang again and was named the Chief Minister after his party gained coalition and formed the government. In 2022 he once again retained his seat from Heingang. He has won the Heingang assembly constituency since 2002. Under Biren Singh's leadership the BJP not only increased its seat share in the Manipur Assembly, from 21 (in 2017) to 32 (in 2022), but had also managed to weather several storms while running the government in the last five years. Towards the end of his chief ministership, the state under his leadership saw the outbreak of the Manipur violence. His response to the violence received criticism from opposition parties and international observers. Biren Singh tendered his resignation on 9 February 2025, though he continued to serve as the caretaker chief minister until president's rule was imposed in the state on 13 February.