Biren Singh sworn-in as Manipur CM for 2nd term

Imphal, March 21 (IANS) Nongthombam Biren Singh was on Monday sworn-in as the Chief Minister of Manipur for the second consecutive term, a day after he was named as the leader of the newly-elected BJP legislators in the state.Singh was administered the oath of office by Governor La Ganesan at a ceremony at the Raj Bhavan in Imphal.Besides the Chief Minister, five newly-elected MLAs of the BJP and its ally Naga People's Front (NPF) were also sworn-in.The five Ministers comprised Thongam Biswajit Singh, Yumnam Khemchand Singh, Govindas Konthoujam, Nemcha Kipgen, all BJP and Awangbow Newmai of NPF.Former Minister Nemcha Kipgen is the only woman minister in Biren Singh council of ministry which would likely be expanded later as the berths of six ministers are vacant. BJP President J.P. Nadda, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, his Tripura counterpart Biplab Kumar Deb and a host of top dignitaries were present in the swearing-in-ceremony.The BJP, in the February-March elections, results of which were declared on March 10, had secured a thin majority of 32 MLAs in the 60-member Assembly.A former footballer-turned-journalist-turned-politician, Singh, 61, a former Congress leader, joined the BJP in October 2016, and in the February-March Assembly elections, won from his traditional Heingang constituency for the record 5th time.
--IANS sc/shb/

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