NEW DELHI: Bharatiya Janata Party leader Yumnam Khemchand is set to become the chief minister of Manipur after he was elected as the leader of legislative party on Tuesday.Meanwhile, Nemcha Kipgen is likely to be Manipur’s deputy chief minister, news agency PTI reported citing sources.While Khemchand hails from the Meitei community, Kipgen comes from Kuki community.This comes after a meeting of the BJP’s legislative members meeting was held in the party headquarters in Delhi.Last year on Feb 9, then Manipur chief minister N Biren Singh tendered his resignation from the state’s top job amid the violence and ethnic conflict in the state that has been raging for nearly three years.Reportedly, a threat of a no-confidence motion loomed against his government after Meghalaya CM Conrad K Sangma’s NPP withdrew support to the BJP-led govt in Manipur saying CM N Biren Singh had “failed completely” in arresting the state’s descent into a spiral of ceaseless violence since the ethnic strife.In the Manipur assembly, BJP has 37 MLAs, supported by its allies Naga People’s Front (5) and JDU with one MLA. Opposition holds 16 seats, comprising National People’s Party (6), Congress (5), independents (3), and two from KPA, which withdrew its support from Biren’s govt in Aug 2023.Who is Yumnam Khemchand?Khemchand is a senior party leader who served as the speaker of the assembly and cabinet minister in Biren Singh’s cabinet. He has been elected in Manipur Legislative Assembly election in 2017 and 2022 from Singjamei constituency.He was the Speaker of Manipur assembly from 2017 to 2022.In 2022, he was appointed as cabinet minister, holding the portfolios of municipal administration, housing development (MAHUD) department, rural development and panchayati raj and the education department.
