The Bharatiya Janata Party’s election manifesto would guide the new government in Arunachal Pradesh for five years, Chief Minister Pema Khandu said in the State’s capital Itanagar on June 13.
He also said that his Council of Ministers would meet to draw the roadmap for development within the first 100 days of taking charge.
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Mr. Khandu was sworn in on Thursday as the Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh for the third time in succession.
“We won 46 of the 60 Assembly seats in Arunachal Pradesh. It reflected the trust the people have in the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who has been showering his attention on the State and elsewhere in the northeast,” he told journalists after the oath-taking ceremony.
“The mandate means we have to live up to the expectations of the people. We will try to follow our election manifesto to make Arunachal Pradesh more developed over the next five years,” he said.
“The first step for the Cabinet will be to set a 100-day target to draw a plan for growth,” he added.
Apart from Mr. Khandu, Arunachal Pradesh Governor Lt Gen (retired) K.T. Parnaik administered the oath of office and secrecy to Chowna Mein as the Deputy Chief Minister. He served in the post in the previous government headed by Mr Khandu.
Ten others were sworn in as Ministers. They are Pasang Dorjee Sona, who was the Speaker from 2019-2024, Biyuram Wahge, the State BJP president, Nyato Dukam, Gabriel Denwang Wangsu, Wanki Lowang, Mama Natung, Dasanglu Pul, Balo Raja, Kento Jini, and Ojing Tasing.
Dasanglu Pul, the only woman in Mr. Khandu’s Ministry, is the widow of former Chief Minister Kalikho Pul.
Union Ministers Amit Shah, J.P. Nadda, and Kiren Rijiju, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, his Tripura counterpart Manik Saha, Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio, and Sikkim Chief Minister Prem Singh Tamang were among the dignitaries present.
Mr. Khandu became the Chief Minister for the first time in 2016 after a power struggle in the then-ruling Congress. Later, 43 MLAs led by him switched to the regional People’s Party of Arunachal and then to the BJP, helping it form the second government in the State without winning the Assembly election.
The BJP formed a government under almost similar circumstances in 2003.
The BJP won 10 of its 46 seats in Arunachal Pradesh unopposed. The party also won the State’s two Lok Sabha seats, one of them held by Mr. Rijiju.
The Assembly and parliamentary polls in India’s easternmost State were held simultaneously on April 19.
Published - June 13, 2024 12:17 pm IST
