BJP's N Biren Singh wins trust vote in Manipur Assembly

Imphal: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), whose leader N Biren Singh took oath as the Chief Minister of Manipur on Wednesday, won the trust vote on the floor of the 60-member Assembly on Monday.

Singh won the trust vote as 32 of the 60 MLAs in the Manipur Assembly backed him.

Earlier today, Yumnam Khemchand Singh of BJP was elected as the new Speaker of Manipur Assembly. 

The Congress had emerged as the largest party in the state winning 28 seats, but the party fell short of majority.

BJP had won 21 seats and made a bid for power claiming it has the support of 33 legislators in Assembly.

On Wednesday, eight other ministers from the BJP and its alliance partners also took oath along with the chief minister. Y Joykumar of NPP has been designated as the Deputy Chief Minister.

A national level football player-turned-journalist, Biren Singh was a key member of the Congress party when he decided to join BJP in October 2016, after falling out with then-CM Okram Ibobi Singh. Singh started his political journey with a regional Democratic Revolutionary People’s Party in 2002.

Manipur Governor Najma Heptulla on Tuesday invited Singh, who was unanimously elected the leader of the 21-member BJP legislature party on Monday, to form the government.