Know who is Pema Khandu
The BJP returned to power in Arunachal Pradesh for the third consecutive time on Sunday, winning 46 of the 60 assembly seats and securing a majority. All the credit for this victory goes to Pema Khandu. Pema Khandu’s political journey began amid a personal tragedy. His father and former Arunachal Chief Minister Dorjee Khandu died in a helicopter crash in 2011. Pema Khandu joined the Congress in the year 2000 and was elected unopposed in the assembly by-election in June 2011 as a Congress candidate from his father’s constituency Mukto.
Sports and music enthusiast Pema Khandu has emerged as a major leader in Arunachal Pradesh in the last few years, especially after the constitutional crisis in 2016 that led to the imposition of President’s rule in the state. Khandu has also been successful in building his image as a skilled electoral strategist. It is because of his strategy that he has made the lotus (BJP’s election symbol) bloom again in this northeastern state.
Political Career of Pema Khandu
Pema Khandu became the minister of water resources development and tourism in the government of Chief Minister Nabam Tuki. His leadership scope grew rapidly after the constitutional crisis in January 2016, when President’s rule was imposed in the state. When the central rule was lifted, he became a minister in the government led by BJP-backed Kalikho Pul. This government, however, lasted for a short time. The Tuki government was reinstated with the intervention of the High Court, but Tuki resigned soon after. After this, Khandu became the Chief Minister of the state in July 2016 at the age of just 37.
Since taking over as the chief minister of this crucial state bordering China, Khandu and his cabinet have switched parties twice – from the Congress to the People’s Party of Arunachal Pradesh (PPA) and then to the BJP, that too in a span of just five months. Just three months into his tenure, 43 MLAs of the ruling Congress joined the BJP’s ally PPA. In 2019, Khandu won the Mukto assembly seat for the second time and became the chief minister without any political hitch.
I like Rafi and Kishore’s songs
Outside politics, Khandu is a music lover and has wooed audiences by singing songs of Kishore Kumar and Mohammed Rafi at official functions. Sports is another of Khandu’s passions, wherein he actively organises cricket tournaments and supports local athletes and promotes talent in various sports including football, cricket, badminton and volleyball.
Khandu, a history graduate from Delhi’s Hindu College, belongs to the Monpa tribe, which mainly resides in Tawang and parts of West Kameng. 45-year-old Khandu, a Buddhist, has been elected unopposed from the Mukto seat in the border district of Tawang this time too.
(Input-PTI)
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