IMPHAL: Manipur Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh was on Sunday elected as the Congress legislature party leader.
The 68-year-old politician, who had earlier made a record of running three successful governments from 2002-2017 in the insurgency-hit border state, led from the front and helped the Congress to emerge as the single largest party.
The Chief Minister won from the Thoubal Assembly seat by a margin of 10,400 votes. Rights activist Irom Sharmila, making her poll debut, was relegated to the fourth position.
Manipur witnessed a nail-biting contest between the BJP and Congress. The Congress won 28 seats to the BJP's 21 in the 60-member Manipur Assembly.
Out of the 60 assembly constituencies, a party has to win 31 seats to form the government in Manipur. In 2012, the Congress led by Ibobi Singh registered victory by winning 42 seats. Manipur has had 16 different CMs so far and not one has been from BJP.