GUWHATI: A national-level footballer-turned-politician, N Biren Singh had first donned the chief minister’s mantle after raising a banner of revolt against Okram Ibobi Singh-led Congress government.
He was first elected to the Assembly in 2002 as a Democratic Revolutionary People’s Party candidate. He joined the Congress the next year and was appointed as a minister, later.
He also served as a minister during the next two terms after he had successfully contested the polls.
His relationship with then-chief minister Ibobi Singh started turning sour during the latter’s third term. He quit the Congress and joined the BJP in 2016.
The BJP appointed him as the spokesperson and co-convener of its Election Management Committee.
He donned the Chief Minister’s mantle in March 2017 after aiding the BJP cobble up the numbers. The BJP had won 21 seats compared to the Congress’ 28 in the 60-member House.
Despite an anti-incumbency wave, he managed to secure a victory for the BJP as it retained power in 2022. His first term was marked by differences within the NDA parties which saw the National People’s Party withdrawing support to the government. Later, it returned to the government following a meeting with Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
Singh's second term as the chief minister was a nightmare. An ethnic conflict partitioned the state internally after claiming lives and displacing people.
There has not been any major violence in the past few weeks but the ethnic tensions between Meiteis and Kukis persist.