Arunachal: Former CM Dorjee Khandu remembered on his 12th death anniversary

The 12th death anniversary of former Arunachal Chief Minister late Dorjee Khandu, who was also known as ''Laughing Buddha'', was observed on April 30 in the state. 

The former Chief Minister, who was born on March 19, 1955, passed away on 30th April 2011 in a helicopter crash between Kyela and Lobothang near Tawang district at a height of 4900 metres.

He was born in Gyangkhar village in the Tawang district of Arunachal to Leki Dorjee. At that time no one from his family would have thought that Dorjee would lead their state after becoming a Chief Minister. He did not receive a good education and in fact, he studied only up to Class VIII, and that too in the Bhoti language.

The man with a golden heart and of a jolly nature, was also in the Indian Army Intelligence Core for more than seven years. He was conferred a gold medal for meritorious intelligence services during the Bangladesh war. 

Besides this, he always indulged in social activities for the benefit of the people of Tawang and people too loved him for his contribution. The man began his political career at a local level as district vice-president of the West Kameng Zilla Parishad in 1983. However, Dorjee Khandu got his biggest political break after he was elected unopposed from Thingbu – Mukto constituency in Legislative Assembly in March 1990. 

Later, Dorjee Khandu became the Chief Minister of the state on April 9, 2007, replacing Gegong Apang, who ruled the state for long 23 years. On 25 October 2009, he was again sworn in as the Chief Minister of the state.

Within a few weeks of taking over as the Chief Minister on April 9, 2007, he secured a loan of Rs 225 crore from PSU power major NHPC and reopened the state-owned APEX Cooperative bank which was lying defunct for two years following a scam worth Rs 200 crore. The said loan brought a smile to depositors' faces who were mostly poor locals.

His popularity grew further when he forced the Centre to open the FIC regional head office in Itanagar and godowns deep inside the state to check the pilferage of PDS commodities. 

Late Khandu also ensured that the Defence System that was maintained in the state due to its physical location did not cause any problems for his people. Though the AFSPA was quite heavily deployed, Khandu made sure that it did not worry the normal civilians. 

Under his successful political journey, he started various significant projects like Airports and Railways, the Pawan Hans chopper service which was defunct for a significantly long period, the construction of a new secretariat office, a new assembly building and the Chief Minister Bungalow in Itanagar.
 
As Arunachal just had started to walk on the path of development, suddenly an ill-fated helicopter crashed on April 30, 2011, claiming Dorjee Khandu's life. 

The helicopter carrying him and four other people on a trip from Tawang to Itanagar disappeared. However, on May 4, 2011, remnants of the crashed helicopter were found by a group of tribals at Sajula, 45 Km off Sela Pass, after four days of intense search in the mountainous region of Sela Pass.

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