Okram Ibobi Singh has been the Chief Minister of the Northeastern state of Manipur since March 2002. He became the Chief Minister for the third time in 2012. He has served two full terms as Chief Minister in the face of insurgency and political turmoil in the state.
He belongs to the Indian National Congress party and was elected to the Manipur Legislative Assembly from Thoubal, Inner Manipur constituency.
He was born on 19 July 1948 in Thoubal Athokpam in Manipur to Okram Angoubi and Lukamani Devi. Okram Ibobi Singh belongs to the Meitei tribe of Manipur.
Okram Ibobi Singh is a graduate with a BA degree. His wife Landhoni Devi is a Congress MLA in the current legislative Assembly. She is elected from Khangabok constituency.
Manipur attained statehood in 1972 and since then the state went through periods of political turmoil with the change of government eighteen times.
After the Assembly elections in 2000, a coalition consisting of Congress and Samata party came to power. In 2001 this Congress Coalition led by Chief Minister Radhabinod Koijam proved to be short lived lasting only a few months. After the elections, the following year, the Congress chose Okram Ibobi as the Chief Minister. He served as the Chief Minister from 2002 to 2007 for his first term. Though the government encountered financial problems in the first term, the governance proved popular and he was elected for the second term as the Chief Minister.
In the State Assembly elections in 2012, the Congress party got an absolute majority with 42 seats out of a total of 60 Assembly seats. The Congress officially named Okram Ibobi Singh as the leader of the Congress legislative party and he was sworn in for his third consecutive term as the Chief Minister on March 14, 2012 by the Governor Gurbachan Jagat.
He has promised to tackle, as priority, the law and order situation in the state. Access to safe drinking water, improvement in the erratic power supply, and better connectivity of the state are other major points on his agenda.