Imphal: It was a historic moment for the BJP on Wednesday, when party leader Nongthombam Biren Singh took oath as the Chief Minister of Manipur. This is the first time that BJP has come to power in the state, which had been a Congress bastion. A floor test awaits them.
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.
The other ministers are Th Biswajit Singh of BJP, L Jayantakumar Singh, L Haokip and N Kayisii of National People's Party, L Dikho of Naga People's Front and Karam Shyam of LJP.
Th Shyamkumar, a Congress MLA who defected to the BJP, was also sworn in.
BJP had won 21 seats and made a bid for power claiming it has the support of 33 legislators in the 60-member assembly.
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.
The Congress had emerged as the largest party in the state winning 28 seats, but the party fell short of majority.
Read: Plane carrying Shah, Naidu to Manipur returns after technical snag
Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated Biren Singh after he was sworn in and expressed confidence that his team will work tirelessly for the state's development.
"Congratulations to Shri N Biren Singh and his team on taking oath. I am sure this team will work tirelessly towards Manipur's development," Modi tweeted.
BJP chief Amit Shah and Union Minister Venkaiah Naidu were to attend the swearing-in ceremony, but their plane to Imphal had to return to Delhi after it developed technical snags in the engine.
The trip was shelved after the aircraft returned, and the two leaders had to give the function a miss.
