New Delhi, Feb. 4 -- Former Manipur speaker Yumnam Khemchand Singh is set to be the next chief minister of the strife-torn state after the 62-year-old Meitei leader was appointed as the legislative party leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday. Singh's election came at a meeting of BJP lawmakers in New Delhi on Tuesday evening. The party has 37 lawmakers in the 60-member assembly and is capable of forming the government on its own. Singh was the first Meitei MLA to visit Kuki-Zo villages in December last year. People aware of discussions said that controversial former chief minister Biren Singh will not be given any ministerial role or post in the new cabinet, which is likely to have two deputy chief ministers - one from the Kuki-Zo community and the other from the Naga community. "I express my sincere gratitude to the Hon'ble BJP National President,@NitinNabin ji Hon'ble Prime Minister, @narendramodi Ji;Hon'ble UnionHome Minister, @AmitShah Ji; & all the respected MLAs of @BJP4Manipur for their trust in me by electing me as the Leader of the BJP Legislature," Singh posted on X. If Singh stakes claim to form government, it will mark the end of nearly a year long spell of President's Rule in the state where ethnic clashes between the dominant Meiteis and the tribal Kukis broke out in May 2023 and till now resulted in the deaths of 260 people and the displacement of nearly 60,000 others. Singh was earlier minister of municipal administration, housing development and panchayati raj in the Biren Singh government. Among the frontrunners to become the deputy CMs are Nemcha Kipgen, a Kuki-Zo leader from BJP, and Losii Dikho from BJP's alliance partner Naga People's Front. An official aware of the matter said," At least two more Kuki-Zo MLAs are likely to get ministerial berths in the new government."...