ITANAGAR, May 29 - Pema Khandu today took oath as the 10th Chief Minister of the frontier State of Arunachal Pradesh. He has become the Chief Minister for the second time in a row.
Khandu was administered the oath of office and secrecy by State Governor Brig (Dr) BD Mishra (retd) in an impressive ceremony held at the Dorjee Khandu State Convention Centre here.
Along with Khandu, 11 other newly-elected MLAs, including Chowna Mein, were also sworn in as Cabinet ministers. Mein, who got re-elected from the Chowkham seat, took oath as the Deputy Chief Minister.
Ten other legislators � Honchun Ngandam, Wangki Lowang, Alo Libang, Kamlung Mossang, Bamang Felix, Tumke Bagra, Mama Natung, Nakap Nalo, Tage Taki and Taba Tedir � were sworn in as ministers. Most of the MLAs, including the Chief Minister and the Deputy Chief Minister, took their oath in English, while Taki and Tedir did so in Hindi.
Soon after his swearing-in, Chief Minister Khandu told reporters that his first and foremost priority would be to improve the law-and-order situation in the State.
�Our Government�s first and foremost priority will be to take care of the law-and-order situation. The second and third priorities will be health and education,� Khandu said.
�Similarly, the fourth priority will be to solve the problem of unemployment. Our State has huge potential. We will bring investment from outside through which the problem of unemployment can be solved,� he stated.
Khandu also assured the people of Arunachal Pradesh that in the coming days, the BJP would provide a clean, transparent and corruption-free Government.
Describing May 29 as a historic day for Arunachal Pradesh, the Chief Minister said, �For the first time in the history of Arunachal Pradesh, a full-fledged BJP Government was formed today.�
Khandu thanked the people of Arunachal Pradesh on behalf of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP national president Amit Shah for giving the saffron party a massive mandate in the recently-concluded Assembly polls. Under Prime Minister Narendra Modi�s leadership and guidance, many work is yet to be carried out in the State, he added.
The swearing-in ceremony was attended by MP Kiren Rijiju, chief ministers Sarbananda Sonowal (Assam), Conrad K Sangma (Meghalaya), Neiphiu Rio (Nagaland), Biplab Kumar Deb (Tripura) and N Biren Singh (Manipur), BJP national general secretary Ram Madhav, Assam Finance Minister and North East Democratic Alliance (NEDA) convener Himanta Biswa Sarma, Arunachal Pradesh BJP president Tapir Gao and several other dignitaries.
It was under Khandu�s leadership that the BJP got an absolute majority by winning 41 seats in the 60-member Assembly. The Congress party, which won 42 seats in the 2014 Assembly polls, has managed to win only four seats this time.
Khandu has retained his Mukto Assembly seat, which is considered to be a stronghold of the Khandu family since his late father Dorjee Khandu�s time. He won by a margin of 2,619 votes by defeating his Congress rival, Thupten Kunphen.
