Pema Khandu takes oath as Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister

ITANAGAR: Senior BJP leader Pema Khandu on Wednesday took oath as the Arunachal Pradesh chief minister. Governor Brig (Retd) B D Mishra administered the oath of office and secrecy to Khandu at the Dorjee Khandu Convention Centre in Itanagar. Eleven Cabinet Ministers, including Chowna Mein, also took oath of office today. The swearing-in ceremony was attended by chief ministers of Assam, Nagaland, Manipur, Tripura and Meghalaya.

The BJP won 41 seats in the 60-member Arunachal Pradesh Assembly. The Assembly election in Arunachal Pradesh was held simultaneously with the Lok Sabha election in the first phase on April 11. Khandu was in the fray from the Mukto assembly constituency and he managed to win from this seat for the third consecutive time. Khandu defeated his lone rival Thupten Kunphen of the Congress by a margin of 2,602 votes.

In 2011 bye-election Khandu had won this seat and was re-elected unopposed in 2014. Khandu took a plunge in active politics after his father and former Arunachal Pradesh chief minister Dorjee Khandu died in a helicopter crash near Luguthang in Tawang district in April 2011. In 2014, the BJP had won just seven seats in the Assembly elections.

BJP leader Kiren Rijiju had tweeted on Monday saying, "Pema Khandu will be sworn in as the Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh on May 29. Extend my gratitude to BJP MLAs for electing Khandu as the BJP legislature party leader."