OUR CORRESPONDENT
Itanagar: Pema Khandu will become the Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh for the third term in a row after he was unanimously elected as the BJP Legislature Party Leader at a meeting here on Wednesday. He will take the oath as Chief Minister on Thursday in the presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Cabinet Minister JP Nadda, besides several chief ministers of the Northeast.
The BJP's central observers, Ravi Sankar Prasad and Tarun Chugh, attended the meeting along with Union Minister Kiren Rijiju.
Later in the evening, Khandu, along with Chugh and many of the of the party's legislators, met Governor Lt Gen (Retd) K T Parnaik at Raj Bhawan here and staked claim to form the government. The governor had invited Khandu and his ministers to swear in.
Talking to reporters at Raj Bhawan, Chugh said that state BJP president Biyuram Wahge proposed the name of Khandu as the chief minister, which was supported by all 46 of the party’s MLAs.
Appreciating Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the party's president, JP Nadda, Khandu thanked the people of the state for reposing faith in the BJP government in the state and voting it to power to form the government for the third time.
Khandu also appreciated the party leadership and the workers for their hard work to ensure the victory of the party candidates in the April 19 assembly elections, including the two Lok Sabha MPs. “I assured the people of the state that the new government as ‘Team Arunachal’ will keep all the commitments enlisted in the election manifesto and will ensure that developmental activities will be initiated in all the districts of the state,” Khandu said. The government will remain committed to the all-round development of the state, he added.
In a departure from the past, Khandu and his new council of ministers will take oaths and secrecy of office at Dorjee Khandu Convention Hall here on Thursday.
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