Bharatiya Janata Party leader N Biren Singh on Monday took oath as the Manipur chief minister for the second consecutive term. Governor Najma Heptullah La Ganesan administered the oath to Singh.
The BJP had won 32 out of 60 seats in the recent Assembly polls. The results declared on March 10.
Singh took oath in the presence of the BJP’s national president JP Nadda. BJP’s Manipur unit president Adhikarimayum Sharda Devi, Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb and other party leaders were also present at the ceremony, according to the Hindustan Times.
“My government’s first step will be to make it a corruption-free state,” Singh said, according to ANI. “I would work day and night to wash out corruption from the state.”
He said that his government’s priority will be to “wash out any kind of drug-related matter”. The chief minister also said that he would ensure that all the insurgents groups operating in the state are brought to the negotiating table and dialogues are held.
“These three will be my primary duties,” he added.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated Singh for being sworn in as the Manipur chief minister and expressed confidence in his abilities to help the state progress further.
In the Assembly elections, the Congress and Naga Peoples Front got five seats each. The newly-formed Kuki People’s Alliance bagged two seats.
Singh had won the Heingang constituency by a huge margin. With 24,814 votes, he had defeated Congress candidate P Saratchandra Singh, who managed to secure only 6,543 votes.
The BJP’s performance in Manipur was better than the 2017 elections, in which it had won only 21 seats.
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