Pema Khandu takes oath as Arunachal Pradesh chief minister

ITANAGAR: Senior BJP leader Pema Khandu took oath as the 10th chief minister of Arunachal Pradesh on Wednesday.
Governor Brigadier (retd) BD Mishra administered the oath of office and secrecy to Khandu at a function organized at the Dorjee Khandu Convention Centre here.
Eleven cabinet ministers, including deputy CM Chowna Mein, were also administered oath along with Khandu. Assam chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal, Meghalaya CM Conrad K Sangma, Nagaland CM Neiphiu Rio, his deputy Y Patton, Tripura CM Biplab Deb and Manipur CM N Biren Singh, Neda convener Himanta Biswa Sarma, MP-elect Kiren Rijiju, along with BJP general secretary Ram Madhab (in charge of NE states), attended the swearing-in ceremony.
Six sitting cabinet ministers - Chowna Mein, Wangki Lowang, Honchun Ngandam, Kamlung Mossang, Alo Libang and Bamang Felix - have been included in the council of ministers. Deputy speaker Tumke Bagra, along with sitting MLAs Mama Natung and Tage Taki, got cabinet berths. Two newcomers - Taba Tedir and Nakap Nalo - were also inducted in the new council of ministers in cabinet rank.
BJP won 41 seats in the 60-member assembly, the elections to which were held simultaneously with the Lok Sabha elections on April 11. While the opposition Congress got only four seats, Janata Dal United (JDU) won seven seats in its debut. Another new entrant, National People's Party (NPP), bagged five seats. While one seat went to People's Party of Arunachal (PPA), two were won by Independents. Immediately after the swearing-in ceremony, Khandu thanked the people of the state on behalf of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party president Amit Shah for voting BJP to power in the Himalayan state.
"It is a historic day for the state as BJP could install a government on its own," Khandu said, promising a clean, transparent and corruption-free government in the state. The CM added that his priority is to improve law and order, health and education sectors. "Our government will explore every possible avenue to provide employment opportunities to unemployed youths and will invite investors to invest in the state for gainful employment of local youths," said Khandu.
Khandu, along with his cabinet colleagues, will go to New Delhi to attend Modi's swearing-in ceremony.