IMPHAL: BJP legislature party leader N Biren Singh was sworn in as the chief minister of Manipur for a second time at the Raj Bhavan here Monday, while his rival for the top job Thongam Biswajit Singh was accommodated as a cabinet minister in his ministry.
Singh, along with BIswajit and four other cabinet ministers, were administered the oath by Governor La Ganesan.
The cabinet ministers who took oath along with Biren and Bishwajit Singh, were Yumnam Khemchand Singh, Govindas Konthoujam, Nemcha Kipgen, all from the BJP, and Awngbow Newmai from the Naga People's Front (NPF).
Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted his congratulations to Biren Singh and said, "I am confident his team and he would take Manipur to newer heights of progress."
Biswajit Singh and Biren Singh had flown in twice to Delhi since results were announced to elections to the state assembly on March 10, in what was seen as rival lobbying efforts to win the coveted job of chief minister of the strife torn state of Manipur.
While Biswajit was commerce, industries, public works and rural development minister in the last cabinet, it is to be seen what portfolios will be allocated to him this time round.
Earlier, union ministers Nirmala Sitharaman and Kiren Rijiju had on Sunday handed over a letter to Ganesan, stating that Singh had been elected unanimously as the leader of the BJP legislature party with 32 MLAs.
Two political parties, the JD (U) with six members, and the Kuki People's Alliance with two members and one independent, had also "extended their unconditional support to the BJP".
Following this, the BJP-led government's strength rose to 41, a two thirds majority in the 60-member Manipur assembly.
The swearing in of Biren Singh as chief minister came after several days of uncertainty and hectic parlaying since the assembly poll results were announced.
The lobbying efforts by rival camps and attempts to broker peace between them by central leaders kept all political personages in a state of flux in this border state.
BJP has won a clear mandate in this state which sits atop highways leading into South East Asia from India for the first time since it entered the northeast.
In the 2017 polls, although the BJP had won only 21 seats, it managed to lure MLAs from the Congress, which clinched 28 seats, and Biren Singh was sworn in as the first-ever BJP chief minister in Manipur.