Manipur CM N Biren Singh's Photo from 1984 Durand Cup Final Surfaces Online

Imphal, October 8, 2019:

Many of us know that the current Manipur Chief Minister, N Biren Singh, used to be a highly competitive football player who played at the national level. On Monday, Kiren Rijiju shared an old picture of the footballer-turned-politician getting introduced to then-President Neelam Sanjiva Reddy ahead of a Durand Cup final.

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In the photograph, Biren Singh, a national-level football player belonging to the Border Security Forces (BSF) team is seen being introduced to the President of India Shri Neelam Sanjiva Reddy during the Durand Cup Final at Ambedkar Stadium, New Delhi in 1981. The BSF beat JCT 1-0.

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Biren Singh began his career as a footballer and got recruited in the Border Security Force playing for its team in domestic competitions. He resigned from the BSF and turned to journalism. Despite having had no formal training and experience, he began the vernacular daily Naharolgi Thoudang in 1992 and worked as the editor till 2001.

Turning to politics in 2002, Singh joined the Democratic Revolutionary Peoples Party and won the assembly elections from Heingang. He retained the seat in 2007 contesting with an Indian National Congress ticket after joining the party in 2003.

Serving as the Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports, he quit the party in 2016 before joining the Bharatiya Janata Party. In 2017, he retained his seat from Heingang again and was named the Chief Minister after his party gained Coalition and formed the government

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