Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday expressed his gratitude to the people of Arunachal Pradesh, as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) secured a return to power in the state. The BJP government, led by Chief Minister Pema Khandu, crossed the majority mark in the 60-member Assembly, winning 34 seats and maintaining a comfortable lead in 11 more. Khandu is likely to continue as the Chief Minister.
In a social media post, PM Modi said, "Thank you Arunachal Pradesh! The people of this wonderful state have given an unequivocal mandate to politics of development. My gratitude to them for reposing their faith in @BJP4Arunachal yet again. Our Party will keep working with even greater vigour for the state’s growth".
"I would like to appreciate the hardwork of the exceptional @BJP4Arunachal Karyakartas through the election campaign. It is commendable how they went across the state and connected with the people," he said in another X post.
BJP Retains Power In Arunachal Pradesh
Ten BJP candidates, including Khandu and Deputy Chief Minister Chowna Mein, won unopposed, with polling taking place in the remaining 50 seats on April 19.
State BJP president Biyuram Wahge won the Pakke-Kessang constituency by a margin of 813 votes over Techi Hemu of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). Former Union Minister Ninong Ering, who left the Congress before the polls, secured victory from the Pasighat (West) seat for BJP by a margin of 2,871 votes over Tapyam Pada of NCP.
Pema Khandu, at 44, is the youngest Chief Minister in the country. He followed in the footsteps of his father, former Chief Minister Dorjee Khandu, who died in a helicopter crash in 2011 near Luguthang in Tawang district bordering China.
Khandu, the eldest son of his family and a graduate of Delhi's prestigious Hindu College, entered governance early following his father's death. He first entered the Arunachal Pradesh Assembly in 2011 to fill the vacancy caused by his father's passing. His election as MLA from Mukto (ST) constituency was uncontested, and he was soon included in the State government as Cabinet Minister for Water Resource Department and Tourism in the Jarbom Gamlin Ministry. He also served as Cabinet Minister for Rural Works Department and Tourism in the Nabam Tuki government and later held portfolios in Tourism, Civil Aviation, and Art & Culture.
Re-inducted as the Urban Development Minister on June 1, 2014, in the Nabam Tuki government, Khandu continued to rise in his political career. A member of the Monpa tribe, he joined the Congress in the early 2000s and became Secretary of the Arunachal Pradesh Congress Committee in 2005 and president of the Tawang District Congress Committee in 2010. He was re-elected unopposed from Mukto in the 2014 Assembly elections.
In 2016, Khandu, along with 32 MLAs of the People's Party of Arunachal (PPA), moved to the BJP.