Nongthombam Biren Singh is the chief minister of Manipur and an Indian politician, former footballer, and journalist.

N Biren Singh was born in Imphal, Manipur on January 1, 1961. Singh holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Manipur University. He is married to Hiyainu Devi, with whom he has a son and two daughters.

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Singh began his career as a footballer before joining the Border Security Force (BSF), where he competed for the squad in local games. He then went into journalism, founding the Naharolgi Thoudang vernacular newspaper in 1992. He was the newspaper’s editor until 2001.

Singh began politics in 2002, when he became a member of the Democratic Revolutionary Peoples Party. He ran in the Assembly elections and won the Heingang seat.

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Singh was appointed Manipur’s Minister of State for Vigilance in 2003, and he also served as Forest and Environment Minister.

He eventually joined the Indian National Congress and was re-elected to the Assembly in 2007. Singh was then appointed Manipur’s Minister of Irrigation & Flood Control, Youth Affairs & Sports, Consumer Affairs & Public Distribution, and Consumer Affairs & Public Distribution (CAF&PD).

Singh won the constituency for the third time in a row in the 2012 Assembly elections.

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In September 2016, he resigned from the Manipur Legislative Assembly after a revolt against the state’s then-chief minister, Okram Ibobi Singh.

In October 2016, Singh joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Singh ran for the Heingang Assembly seat in 2017 and won, maintaining the seat for the fourth time in a row. On March 15, 2017, he was sworn in as Manipur’s Chief Minister, becoming the state’s first BJP leader to do so.

Singh stated that he wants the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act repealed ahead of the Manipur Assembly elections in 2022.