Pema Khandu takes oath as the Arunachal Pradesh CM for third time

Pema Khandu of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) took the oath as the chief minister of Arunachal Pradesh for the third consecutive time on 13 June 2024. The Arunachal Pradesh Governor, Lt Gen (Retd) K T Parnaik, administered the oath of office and secrecy at Dorjee Khandu Convention Hall in Itanagar.

The Governor also administered the oath of office to eleven cabinet ministers, including Chowna Mein as the Deputy Chief Minister of the state.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah, BJP president and  Union Minister JP Nadda, Union Minister Kiren Rijiju, and Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, among others, attended the swearing-in ceremony.

Pema Khandu led the BJP to a thumping win in the recently held Arunachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly election.

BJP Sweeps 2024 Arunachal Pradesh Assembly Election

The election to constitute the 11th Arunachal Pradesh legislative assembly was held on 9 April 2024, along with the Lok Sabha election. Pema Khandu's led BJP won 36 out of the 50 assembly seats that went to the polls. 

The Arunachal Pradesh legislative assembly has 60 seats, but elections were held only on 50 seats. In the 10 assembly seats, only one candidate stood for election from each seat, and these candidates were declared elected unopposed.

Pema Khandu, who filed his nomination from the Mukto assembly constituency, was one of the ten candidates who were declared unopposed.

BJP won 46 seats in the assembly. 

Before the swearing-in ceremony, the National People’s Party (NPP), which has five seats in the assembly, announced its support to the Pema Khandu government.

Third Term for Pema Khandu 

Pema Khandu became the chief minister of Arunachal Pradesh in 2016, replacing Nabam Tuki. He was with the Congress party at that time. Later in the year, he and 43 of his MLAs joined the BJP.

He won the 2019 assembly election and was sworn in as the chief minister for the second time.

He has now been sworn in for the third term as the chief minister of Arunachal Pradesh.

About Arunachal Pradesh 

Arunachal Pradesh is India's easternmost region, and its easternmost point, Kibithu, is in the Anjaw district of the state.

Arunachal Pradesh is part of the Northeastern states and the largest state in the region area-wise.

Its name is mentioned in Kalki Puran, and Lord Krishna's wife, Rukmini, is believed to be from Arunachal Pradesh.

Arunachal Pradesh is also known as the ‘Land of the Rising Sun or the Land of the Dawn-lit Mountains’.

The world’s second-largest Buddhist monastery is in Tawang, Arunachal Pradesh. The world’s largest monastery, Potala Palace, is in Tibet.

After Independence, the area was named the North East Frontier Province(NEFA)and was renamed Arunachal Pradesh in 1972.

Arunachal Pradesh was initially a Union Territory, which was made the 24th state of India in 1987.

Capital: Itanagar.

Governor:  Lt Gen (Retd) K T Parnaik