Will follow my father's footsteps, work for development of Arunachal: Pema Khandu

Itanagar, July 17 (ANI): Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu on Sunday reached out to the people of the state, saying he would try to follow his late father Dorjee Khandu's footsteps and work for development. Addressing the media after taking oath as the Chief Minister, Khandu stated that his father worked a lot for the state and, therefore, the people now would be having a lot of expectations from his son. "During his tenure as the chief minister for four years, he did a lot of work. He initiated so many actions and there are many of his projects which are still pending. I will try to fulfill all the expectations and complete all his pending projects. My government will try to fulfill our responsibilities. We will focus on starting new projects and take forward stalled projects for the developments of the state," Khandu said. Khandu, who is the youngest in his Cabinet, said that there would be no ego issues while dealing with his senior colleagues. "If there was an ego problem with my senior colleagues then I would not have been elected as Arunachal Chief Minister. What matters is the performance," he said. Pema was elected leader of the Congress in the Arunachal Pradesh assembly yesterday. 36-year-old Pema, the youngest chief minister of the country, replaced Nabam Tuki who resigned after stepping down as leader of the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) hours before he was to seek a trust vote. Chowna Mey took oath as the Deputy Chief Minister of the state. Khandu's father, Dorjee had died in a chopper crash in 2011, hails from Tawang area, bordering China. Khandu joined the Congress in early 2000 and became the secretary of Arunachal Pradesh Congress Committee in 2005. Khandu was later re-elected without any opposition from Mukto in the 2014 assembly elections. (ANI)