The newly-elected BJP-led Arunachal Pradesh government is likely to assume office on June 13, sources said on Tuesday, adding that Chief Minister Pema Khandu is likely to continue for the third straight term.
The parliamentary board of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday appointed senior party leader and former Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad and party’s National General Secretary Tarun Chugh as the party’s central observers to elect the legislature party leader of Arunachal Pradesh.
BJP sources said that Prasad and Chugh would likely arrive in Itanagar on Wednesday when the BJP’s newly elected MLAs would meet to elect the legislature party leader.
“On Thursday (June 13), the new BJP government would assume office for the third consecutive term. Pema Khandu is likely to be re-elected the BJP legislature party leader and Chief Minister,” the sources said.
Khandu, Deputy Chief Minister Chowna Mein, and state BJP President Biyuram Wahge returned to Itanagar on Monday from New Delhi to attend the swearing-in of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Union Council of Ministers, as well as consult the central leadership about the new government formation in the state.
The results of the Assembly polls in Arunachal Pradesh, which were held simultaneously with the Lok Sabha election, were announced on June 2, two days before the declaration of results of the Lok Sabha election.
The BJP, on its own, secured 46 seats — five more than in the 2019 elections — in the 60-member Assembly for which elections were held on April 19. Of the 46 seats bagged by the BJP, 10, including that of CM Khandu, were won uncontested before the polls. The National People’s Party (NPP) headed by Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma won five seats, followed by the Ajit Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) with three seats, the People’s Party of Arunachal (PPA) with two seats, three Independents, and the Congress winning one seat. The NPP, the NCP, and the PPA have already announced their support to the BJP government.
Monpa community leader Khandu, 45, became the Chief Minister in 2016 after he, along with several MLAs, left the Congress for the PPA before joining the BJP. The BJP registered its first electoral victory in the Arunachal Assembly polls in 2019.
