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Pema Khandu sworn in as chief minister of Arunachal Pradesh for successive 3rd term
Khandu, the MLA of Mukto, was sworn in by Governor KT Parnaik in the presence of Union home minister Amit Shah, BJP president JP Nadda and several other leaders
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislature party leader, Pema Khandu, on Thursday took oath as chief minister of Arunachal Pradesh for the third successive term at a ceremony held in the state capital Itanagar.
The 44-year-old was administered oath of office and secrecy by Governor Lt Gen (Retd) KT Parnaik held at the Dorjee Khandu Convention Centre.
Chowna Mein, who was the deputy CM in the previous Khandu-led governments since 2016, also took oath.
Ten other cabinet ministers were also sworn in by the Governor. Of the 10 cabinet ministers---8 are new faces. Dasanglu Pul is the lone woman minister. The other nine ministers are PD Sona, Mama Natung, Kento Jini, GD Wangsu, Biyuram Wahge, Nyato Dukam, Wangki Lowang, Balo Raja and Ojing Tasing.
While Wahge is the BJP state unit chief, Pul is the wife of former chief minister Kalikho Pul.
Sona was the Speaker in the previous assembly and Natung was the minister of youth affairs and sports.
The ceremony was attended by BJP national president and union health minister JP Nadda, union home minister Amit Shah, among other senior leaders.
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Chief ministers of Assam Himanta Biswa Sarma (Assam), newly elected Sikkim CM, Prem Singh Tamang, and the two Lok Sabha MPs from Arunachal Pradesh, Kiren Rijiju and Tapir Gao, were also present.
On Wednesday, Khandu was elected unanimously as the leader of BJP’s new MLAs. The party has won 46 of the total 60 seats—10 BJP candidates including Khandu and Mein had won their seats unopposed.
NPP had come second with 5 seats, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) won 3 seats, Peoples’ Party of Arunachal (PPA) bagged 2, Congress won 1 and the rest 3 seats were secured by independent candidates.
Son of former Congress chief minister Dorjee Khandu, Pema’s rise in politics began after his father’s death in a helicopter crash in 2011.
A former Congress leader, who is a graduate in History from Hindu College in Delhi, has been pivotal in BJP’s ascent in Arunachal Pradesh.
Khandu belongs to the Monpa tribe, and he represents the Mukto assembly seat in Tawang, a district bordering China. He won from the seat unopposed for the first time in the bye-election held after his father death in 2011. Following his win, he was inducted in the Congress government led by Jarbom Gamlin as a cabinet minister. He became the CM after five years.
