The four-day-old Pema Khandu government in Arunachal Pradesh passed the floor test on Wednesday in the Assembly. A total of 46 MLAs voted in favour of the Chief Minister while11 members from Opposition BJP voted against it.
Governor Tathagata Roy hurriedly summoned the day-long Session of the Assembly late on Tuesday night asking Khandu to prove his majority on the floor of the House. When the House assembled in the morning with Deputy Speaker Tenzing Norbu Thongdok in the chair, Chief Minister Pema Khandu moved the motion: ‘This house expresses its confidence in the council of ministers’ which was seconded by former Chief Minister Nabam Tuki.
Khandu said his prime duty was to bring equal development for all the communities of the state which was largest in the north-east region with 26 major tribes and over 100 sub-tribes.
The Chief Minister, while appealing to members not to rake up issues of the past, said he would fix responsibilities on every minister of his Cabinet and those who fail to perform, would face action.
”I will take all the MLAs together as ‘Team Arunachal’ to fulfill the aspirations of the people,” he announced, adding that his priority would be to complete all important schemes.
Khandu, 37, was sworn-in as the ninth, and youngest, Chief Minister in the country on 17 July after months of political turmoil in the state. In a dramatic turnaround in this land-locked state on 16 July, Congress replaced Tuki by choosing Khandu as the new CLP leader.
In the 60-member House with an effective strength of 58, Congress now claims the support of 47 MLAs, including two Independents, while Opposition BJP has 11 members.
(With PTI inputs.)
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