Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh was arrested in 2000 for ‘seditious’ article

In April 2000, Biren Singh's press 'Naharolg go Thoudang' was raided and charged with sedition for publishing news supporting extremists.

New Delhi, Mar 17: Nongthombam Biren Singh, who was elected as the BJP’s legislature party leader in the state on Monday, was sworn in as the Chief Minister of the state on Wednesday, March 15. However, did you know that Biren Singh was once arrested on the charges of sedition? In April 2000, Biren Singh’s press ‘Naharolg go Thoudang’ was raided and charged with sedition for publishing news supporting extremists.

“The inner call for serving the people more effectively was so strong that I gave up journalism that I had come to love so much,” recalled Biren Singh.

Following this, Biren Singh jumped into politics and contested the Heingang assembly constituency on Democratic Revolutionary Peoples Party ticket in 2002, but later on joined the Congress. In the year 2003, chief minister Okram Ibobi Singh made him the minister of state of vigilance in the Congress government and retained his assembly seat in the subsequent elections.

While he continued to hold significant portfolios, Biren Singh also took charge of Manipur government spokesperson.

In the 2007 election victory, Singh became the minister for irrigation flood control and youth affairs and sports. In the year 2016, Singh revolted against Ibobi Singh and engineered a campaign for his ouster gathering a support of 25 MLAs out of 42. Following which, he was sacked by Ibobi Singh.

After he was sacked, Biren Singh quit the assembly, as MPCC vice-president and spokesperson of Congress and joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in October 2016 as the spokesperson and co-convener of the election committee of the Manipur BJP. “People feel there is no governance now. It is a world record that the bodies of nine tribals have been in the morgue for more than a year. An agreement should have been ironed out and bodies were given a decent burial,” he then said.

Although Biren Singh has claimed that he has never dreamt of becoming a chief minister, he has widely been admired for his friendly attitude. People voted against corruption and excesses of all sorts in the 2017 assembly election,” he said after taking charge.

As soon as Biren Singh became the CM of the northeast state, which had been under the rule of Congress’ Okram Ibobi Singh for past 15 years, Singh initiated the process to lift the over four-month long economic blockade in the state.

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