Yumnam Khemchand set to become Manipur's new CM after a year of President's rule due to ethnic clashes

Bharatiya Janata Party leader Yumnam Khemchand is set to take over as the chief minister of Manipur after being elected leader of the BJP legislative party on Tuesday.

The decision was taken at a meeting of the party’s legislators held at the BJP headquarters in Delhi.

The leadership change comes nearly a year after then chief minister N Biren Singh resigned from the top post on February 9, stepping down amid prolonged violence and ethnic unrest in the state that has continued for almost three years.


President’s Rule was first imposed in Manipur on February 13, 2025, for six months following prolonged ethnic clashes between Meitei and Kuki communities, and extended for another six months in August 2025. The BJP-led government, headed by then-chief minister N Biren Singh, resigned on February 9. Subsequently, the 60-member assembly — whose term runs until 2027 — was placed under suspended animation.

The BJP currently holds 37 MLAs in the assembly, bolstered by defections from the JDU after the 2022 elections. Sources said that if a new government is not formed soon, the Centre would require parliamentary approval to extend the President’s Rule in Manipur during the ongoing budget session.