Khandu Dropped 3 Ministers, 5 Parliamentary Secretaries
Itanagar
Two days after formation of BJP Govt in the state, Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu has dropped three ministers from his council of ministers, apart from removing two advisors and five parliamentary secretaries. A formality though, the ten who were officially dropped with the government issued notifications on Monday.
On the recommendation of the chief minister, Governor V Shanmuganathan gave his assent to the removal of the ministers — Animal Husbandry, Dairy Development, Fisheries, Sports and Youth Affairs Minister Rajesh Tacho, Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Minister Tanga Byaling and PHE, Water Supply and Disaster Management Minister Takam Pario — on December 31 last.
The portfolios attached to the three of them would now be held by the chief minister, the notification issued by Chief Secretary Shakuntala Doley Gamlin said.
The chief minister also dropped five parliamentary secretaries, including Mutchu Mithi ( PWD ), Markio Tado (Food and Civil supplies), Tirong Aboh (Geology and Mining), Dikto Yekar, (Art and Culture) and Nikh Kamin (Disaster Management).
All the dropped ministers, advisors and parliamentary secretaries, who are MLAs of the Peoples’ Party of Arunachal (PPA), had opposed the leadership of Khandu and projected Takam Pario as the next chief minister of the state.
It must be mentioned here that, in a dramatic move, Khandu along with 32 PPA MLAs joined the BJP on December 31 last to install the BJP government in the north-eastern state. The party-wise strength in the state assembly now is: BJP – 45, Independents – 2, PPA – 10, Congress 3.
