Arunachal Pradesh chief minister Pema Khandu on Thursday assured to decentralise the power.

Arunachal Pradesh chief minister Pema Khandu on Thursday assured to decentralise the power and function of all 20 subjects to Itanagar Municipal Corporation (IMC) if the Bharatiya Janata Party forms the municipal councils.

The assurance from the chief minister came during the campaign for panchayat and municipal polls that kicked off from Naharlagun near Iatnagar.

“The BJP government believes in decentralisation of power. The municipality is presently allotted 13 subjects despite assurances earlier for 20. The power over all 20 subjects will be allotted to the IMC if the BJP is able to govern municipal bodies,” Khandu said.

Addressing a massive rally, the chief minister thanked the people of Arunachal for electing unopposed 5,564 BJP candidates to the local bodies. “Your support is unprecedented in the history of local body elections in Arunachal,” he added.

He said such a mandate was possible because the voters are intelligent today and have assessed the performance of the BJP.

“There was a time when the North East was neglected. But today the visit of central ministers to the region is frequent, prompting development activities. Under the BJP, all big pending projects have been completed and many others are on the verge of completion. Besides development, BJP has also focused on transformation and bringing transparency in governance,” Khandu said.

Beginning his campaign with the municipal elections for Itanagar, the chief minister appealed to the people to vote for BJP as he felt that this election is crucial in electing good candidates for making the Smart City project a successful venture.

He said much effort went into winning two proposals for smart cities in Arunachal making it the only state in the North East to be granted so.

“Since Itanagar is the face of Arunachal, it is our duty to keep the capital city clean, orderly and beautiful,” the CM said, promising to improve the law and order situation of the city and assured to increase CCTV installations and street lighting, including along the four-lane highway.

He also promised to get all sectoral roads in the city to be paved with concrete. He said the airport for capital was languishing for a decade, but the work finally started after much effort went into resolving pending issues, finalising the site and completing the ground survey. Under BJP, he said railways services to the capital region have also increased.

Home minister Bamang Felix, state BJP president Biyuram Wahge, general secretary Zingnu Namchoom, advisor to chief minister Tame Phassang and several other top party officials were present on the occasion.

Damien Lepcha is Northeast Now Correspondent in Arunachal Pradesh. He can be reached at: [email protected]