Yumnam Khemchand Singh (born 1 March 1963) is an Indian politician who is currently serving as theChief Minister of Manipur since 4 February 2026. A member of theBharatiya Janata Party, he has represented theSingjamei constituency in theManipur Legislative Assembly since 2017. He served as a cabinet minister in thesecond Biren Singh ministry from March 2022 to February 2025, and was the speaker of the Manipur assembly from 2017 to 2022.

In the2017 Manipur Legislative Assembly election, theBharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won 21 seats in the 60-memberassembly, and Khemchand won from theSingjamei constituency. Though BJP was not the largest party and did not have an absolute majority, it formed the government with the support ofNational People's Party,Naga People's Front, and other smaller parties.^[1][2] Khemchand was elected as the speaker of the assembly.^[3] When eight legislators from the oppositionIndian National Congress supported the BJP-led government, speaker Khemchand did not take a decision on the disqualification cases against them as per theanti-defection law. One of them,Thounaojam Shyamkumar Singh, was later disqualified in March 2020 following an order of theSupreme Court of India. While four of the remaining seven returned to the Congress, three remained with the ruling BJP. On the eve of the election for the loneRajya Sabha seat from Manipur, theManipur High Court restrained the seven legislators from entering the assembly until the speaker took a decision on their status. Khemchand then decided to disqualify the four members that returned to Congress fold, and allowed the three legislators that stayed with the BJP into the assembly, and the election was won by the BJP candidateLeishemba Sanajaoba.^[2]

After the2022 Manipur Legislative Assembly election, the BJP won 32 seats and achieved a majority. Though Khemchand was one of the candidates for the chief minister's post,N. Biren Singh became the chief minister.^[4][5] Khemchand was sworn in as a cabinet minister in thesecond Biren Singh ministry and was given three ministries as his portfolio: Municipal Administration and Housing Development, Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, and Education.^[6]

After the onset of the2023–2025 Manipur violence in May 2023, theunion government summoned Manipur's cabinet ministers including Khemchand to Delhi.^[7] People from the Singjamei constituency submitted a memorandum with demands to Khemchand.^[8] In October, some unidentified miscreants lobbed a grenade at the gate of his residence, injuring aCentral Reserve Police Force personnel and a relative of Khemchand.^[9][10] In June 2024, the women's wing of theCoordinating Committee on Manipur Integrity stormed his house asking him to make his stand clear on the prevailing situation of the state, and Khemchand reportedly asked for dialogue between the warring groups.^[11]

On 13 February 2025, Khemchand ceased to be the speaker after the Manipur assembly was suspended and the state was placed under thePresident's rule.^[12] In December 2025, Khemchand visitedKuki villages inUkhrul andKamjong, in the first such outreach effort by aMeitei politician since the violence erupted between the two ethnic groups on 3 May 2023.^[13]

Khemchand took charge as theChief Minister of Manipur on 4 February 2026, after the President's rule was evoked earlier.^[14]

• Living people
• 1963 births
• Bharatiya Janata Party politicians from Manipur
• Manipur MLAs 2017–2022
• People from Imphal
• Chief ministers from Bharatiya Janata Party
• Speakers of the Manipur Legislative Assembly
• Manipur MLAs 2022–2027

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Use dmy dates from July 2017
• Date of birth not in Wikidata
• Year of birth missing (living people)