Biren could be India's first 'sportsman' CM

IMPHAL: If Nongthombam Biren Singh becomes the chief minister, he will not only be Manipur's first BJP CM but also the first sportsman in the country to get the top job.
Biren, whose journey began on the football field, went on to become the editor of a vernacular daily after hanging his boots. It was during this time he decided to enter electoral politics.
During the surcharged election campaign this year, he had told TOI that it will be like the biggest football final of his political career.Biren treats politics like the game of football and knows where his opponents will dribble the ball. Biren, who played as a defender, is expected to defend BJP's fort in Manipur now.
Some BSF officers first noticed Biren's sporting talent during a football match in Imphal way back in 1979. He was only 18 years old then. The BSF had asked him to play for its football team. Thus, Biren became one of the pioneer Manipuri footballers who began playing outside the landlocked state. He was in the BSF team that lifted the prestigious Durand Cup in New Delhi's Ambedkar Stadium in 1981 by defeating Mohun Bagan. He also played against great footballers like Bidesh Bose, Shyam Thapa and Manoranjan Bhattacharya who were with Mohun Bagan and East Bengal.
Biren left the BSF team in 1982 and returned home. But he continued playing football till 1987. He represented the Manipur state team in the National Santosh Trophy thrice.
After hanging up his boots, Biren became a journalist in 1992 and edited a vernacular newspaper till 2001. He was once arrested and jailed on sedition charges for writing against the government. But interestingly, the government given him the State Journalist Award for his editorial on national integration and communal harmony the previous year.
Biren entered electoral politics in 2002 by contesting elections from the Heingang assembly seat as a candidate of Democratic Revolutionary People's Party (DRPP) and won the election. DRPP later merged with Congress and he served as a minister for seven years. He then became Congress government's trouble-shooter and Ibobi's most trusted lieutenant. After the 2012 election, Ibobi sidelined him and the trust between Biren and his mentor was lost for ever. He finally walked out of Congress and joined BJP in October last year.