Arunachal BJP unit trashes report of replacing Khandu as CM
Itanagar: The BJP national executive meet has officially welcomed Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu into the ‘BJP parivar’ (BJP family).
A political resolution in this regard was passed and adopted by the two-day national executive of the party which began in New Delhi on Friday.
“The year (2016) has ended on another happy note with 33 MLAs from the PPA in Arunachal Pradesh, including the chief minister, opting to join the BJP. The national executive welcomes the new BJP Chief Minister, Pema Khandu, into the BJP parivar,” an official release said here on Saturday.
BJP national president Amit Shah officially welcomed Khandu and his team of PPA legislators into the party-fold on Friday.
Extending support and cooperation of the BJP national executive in strengthening the party in Arunachal Pradesh as well as in the overall growth of the state, Shah expressed confidence in Khandu’s leadership to lead the party and the state from the front.
The BJP had earlier made it clear that it would “only” support the Khandu government in the state and “will never” support any other chief minister.
The decision came in the backdrop of an unprecedented political development in the state where the Peoples’ Party of Arunachal temporarily suspended Chief Minister Pema Khandu, his deputy Chowna Mein and five other MLAs on December 29 for alleged anti-party activities.
Shah said 2016 had been a very successful year for the BJP. In the electoral arena, the year began with the party entering the north-east with a bang by winning the Assam Assembly polls with a two-third majority in alliance with its partners.
At the end of the year, Arunachal Pradesh became the 10th state in the country currently ruled by the party.
It also registered convincing victories in the by-polls held in states such as Assam, Madhya Pradesh and Arunachal Pradesh.
The saffron party’s showing in Left-dominated Tripura, where it is “slowly but surely” emerging as a “credible alternative” to the Left Front by pushing back parties such as the Congress and the TMC, cannot be overlooked, he added.
In Bengal too, the party has “weathered the brute politics” of the ruling Trinamool Congress and emerged as a strong runner-up in the recent by-polls, Shah said.
The main focus of the two-day national executive meet, which is being attended by former BJP presidents, party chief ministers and around 350 party members, is drawing up the strategy for the upcoming Assembly elections in five states, especially in Uttar Pradesh, the release added.
Meanwhile, the Arunachal Pradesh Unit of BJP on Saturday denied any move to replace incumbent Chief Minister Pema Khandu as speculated in a section of media.
“Pema Khandu enjoys absolute support of 47 BJP and 2 Independent MLAs in the 60 member House. The state BJP endorsed full support to the leadership of Khandu,” state BJP President Tapir Gao in a statement said.
According to report in a national daily, Union Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju’s name is doing the rounds as the next possible Chief Minister of the state. State BJP President Tapir Gao is also said to be in the race, the report stated.
The BJP national executive led by National President Amit Shah and the North East in-charge Ram Madhav have pledged absolute faith in the leadership of Khandu as the Chief Minister of the BJP led government in Arunachal Pradesh. Gao said that there is absolutely no question of replacing Khandu who enjoys full support of entire BJP party.
“We in BJP do not have culture of high command replacing the political leadership in the state. The speculations so made and printed by some media houses are pure rumours that are being spread by political opponents who are playing anoutdated political trick to confuse people and to vent out their sheer frustration,” he claimed.
Gao further appealed to the media to be more sensible in bringing out such news items by properly verifying and authenticating the source as it creates a sense of political insecurity in the state which has seen so much of political turmoil in the recent past. (PTI)