Pema Khandu, who pitchforked into politics after the death of his father in a helicopter crash eight years ago, was sworn in as the first Chief Minister of an elected Bharatiya Janata Party government in Arunachal Pradesh. Chronologically, he is the 10th. His father, Dorjee Khandu was the fifth.

Apart from Mr Khandu, Governor Brigadier (Retd.) B.D. Mishra administered the oath of office and secrecy to Chown Mein as the Deputy Chief Minister and 10 others as ministers. This included Nakap Nalo and Taba Tedir, who had won the elections to the 60-member Assembly for the first time.

There was no woman in the Council of Ministers whose portfolios would be allocated soon. Three of the BJP’s 41 legislators are women, including giantkiller Jummum Ete Deori, who defeated State Congress president Takam Sanjoy.

The chief ministers of five north-eastern States attended the ceremony. They were Assam’s Sarbananda Sonowal, Manipur’s Nongthongbam Biren Singh, Meghalaya’s Conrad K. Sangma, Nagaland’s Neiphiu Rio, and Tripura’s Biplab Kumar.