Manipur Assembly elections will be held on 27th February and the results will be declared on 10th March. BJP’s Nongthombam Biren Singh, current Chief Minister (C.M.) of the state, will be looking to get elected to the assembly for the record 5th time as well as second consecutive term as the C.M. However, beyond all the election news bytes and political buzz, politicians have a personal life as well and N. Biren Singh is no different. Satiating our curiosity, we all would like to know little known facts about his family background, his early life, and his journey in politics.
1. N. Biren Singh was born in Luwansangbam Mamang Leikai, Manipur in 1961 in a Hindu family. He was born and raised in Manipur. | Credit: PTI File Photo
2. Since childhood, he has been an ardent football fan. When he was 18 years old, he was scouted by the Border Security Forces (BSF) football team officials during a match in Imphal, capital of Manipur. Credit: Twitter
3. He was talented enough to join the team and was the first player from Manipur to play outside the state. He was part of the BSF team which beat Kolkata’s Mohun Bagan to lift the Durand Cup in 1981. He nevertheless quit the BSF team next year but continued to play for the state team until 1992.
4. He has always been an ardent social worker and holds a diploma in journalism and began vernacular daily “Naharolgi Thoudang” in 1992 and was the editor till 2001. In 2000, he was jailed on sedition charges for allowing publication of a speech an activist alleged to be close to a separatist group, as per a NDTV report.
5. He started his political career in 2002 by joining Democratic Revolutionary People’s Party and was elected on the party’s ticket from Heingang constituency.
6. In 2003, he switched over to Indian National Congress (INC) and was appointed Minister of State Vigilance. He was said to be close to then C.M. Okram Ibobi Singh. In the 2007 assembly elections, he retained his seat. He was then appointed as Minister of Irrigation and Flood Control and Youth Affairs and Sports.
7. In 2012, he won election for the third time but was involved in a power struggle against sitting C.M. Ibobi Singh as he was left out of cabinet. He then resigned from the INC and the party’s state committee.
8. He formally joined BJP in October 2016 and became the party’s state spokesperson as well as co-convenor of election management. In 2017 March, he won from his assembly seat for a record fourth time. He was elected as legislative leader of BJP MLAs because of his experience and approached the Governor with majority legislative members to form the government.
