N Biren Singh, BJP leader in Manipur has become party’s first ever chief minister in the state, after BJP racked up the numbers to form majority in the state. Governor of the state, Najma Heptullah administrated the oath taking ceremony held at the Rajbhawan.
Along with the chief minister, 8 more ministers took oath. Y Joykumar of NPP (Naga People’s Front) has been sworn in as the deputy chief minister and the list of cabinet ministers included MLAs from the supporting parties as well. The names in the cabinet included 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, the MLA who had joined BJP camp after winning from Congress ticket, also took oath as one of the cabinet ministers.
The big names present at the oath-taking ceremony included Ram Madhav (BJP General Secretary) and Himanta Biswa Sharma (a minister from Assam). BJP President Amit Shah and senior BJP leader Venkaiah Naidu were also supposed to attend the function, however, their aircraft malfunctioned in the air after taking off and they had to return to Delhi.
The governor had yesterday invited BJP to form government in the state stating that the party had enough MLAs to its support and that a stable government will be beneficial for the state. BJP currently enjoys support of 32 MLAs in a 60 member assembly.