Speaker of Legislative Assembly
In the 2017 Manipur Legislative Assembly election,the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won 21 seats in the 60-member assembly,and Khemchand won from the Singjamei constituency. Though BJP was not the largest party and did not have an absolute majority,it formed the government with the support of National 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 opposition Indian National Congress supported the BJP-led government,speaker Khemchand did not take a decision on the disqualification cases against them as per the anti-defection law. One of them,Thounaojam Shyamkumar Singh,was later disqualified in March 2020 following an order of the Supreme 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 lone Rajya Sabha seat from Manipur,the Manipur 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 candidate Leishemba Sanajaoba. [2]
Cabinet Minister
After the 2022 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 the second 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 the 2023–2025 Manipur violence in May 2023,the union 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 a Central Reserve Police Force personnel and a relative of Khemchand. [9] [10] In June 2024,the women's wing of the Coordinating 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 the President's rule. [12] In December 2025,Khemchand visited Kuki villages in Ukhrul and Kamjong,in the first such outreach effort by a Meitei politician since the violence erupted between the two ethnic groups on 3 May 2023. [13]
