Dorjee Khandu (19 March 1955 – 30 April 2011) was an Indian politician who served as

Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh The chief minister of Arunachal Pradesh is the chief executive of the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh. As per the Constitution of India, the governor of Arunachal Pradesh is the state's ''de jure'' head, but ''de facto'' executive authority ...

. He was re elected in 2009

Arunachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly The Arunachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly is the unicameral state legislature of Arunachal Pradesh state in north-eastern India. The seat of the Legislative Assembly is at Itanagar, the capital of the state. The Legislative Assembly comprise ...

elections.

Personal life

;Early life Dorjee Khandu was born in Gyangkhar Village in

Tawang Tawang is a town and administrative headquarter of Tawang district in the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh. The town was once the capital of the Tawang Tract, which is now divided into the Tawang district and the West Kameng district. Tawang c ...

district,

North East Frontier Agency The North-East Frontier Agency (NEFA), originally known as the North-East Frontier Tracts (NEFT), was one of the political divisions in British India, and later the Republic of India until 20 January 1972, when it became the Union Territory of ...

, India to Leki Dorjee. ; Married life Dorjee Khandu had four wives, five sons and two daughters. He was a follower of

Buddhism Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and gra ...

and

Donyi-Poloism Donyi-Polo (also Donyi-Poloism) is the designation given to the indigenous religion, of animistic and shamanic type, of the Tani and other Tibeto-Burman peoples of Arunachal Pradesh and Assam in Northeast India. The name "Donyi-Polo" means "Su ...

. His eldest son, Mr.

Pema Khandu Pema Khandu (born 21 August 1979) is an Indian politician and the Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh. He is son of former Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh Dorjee Khandu. Since assuming office of chief minister in July 2016, he and his govern ...

, is currently the chief minister of Arunachal Pradesh.

Career

Dorjee Khandu served in the

Indian Army The Indian Army is the land-based branch and the largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head is the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), who is a four- ...

Intelligence Corps for seven years. He was awarded a gold medal for the meritorious service rendered during

Bangladesh War The Bangladesh Liberation War ( bn, মুক্তিযুদ্ধ, , also known as the Bangladesh War of Independence, or simply the Liberation War in Bangladesh) was a revolution and armed conflict sparked by the rise of the Bengali n ...

. Later, he engaged in social activities concerned with villagers of

Tawang District Tawang district (Pron:/tɑ:ˈwæŋ or təˈwæŋ/) is the smallest of the 26 administrative districts of Arunachal Pradesh state in northeastern India. With a population of 49,977, it is the eighth least populous district in the country (out of ...

. In 1980, he was elected unopposed as the First ASM and served till 1983. * 1982: Chairman, Culture and Co-operative Societies. * 1983–87: Elected unopposed as District Vice President,

West Kameng District West Kameng (pronounced ) is a district of Arunachal Pradesh in northeastern India. It accounts for 8.86% of the total area of the state. The name is derived from the Kameng river, a tributary of the Brahmaputra, that flows through the district ...

Zilla Parishad 1983–87.

Political career

Popularly known as People's Chief Minister, large chunk of modern infrastructure is a product of his policies viz-a-viz. Trans-Arunachal Highway, Green field airport, Railway lines, New State civil secretariat, New Assembly Building etc. He was conferred the Karamveer Award by Arunachal Pradesh Literary Society in 2013 in recognition of his contributions to the state. In March 1990, he was elected unopposed to the First Legislative Assembly of Arunachal Pradesh from Thingbu-Mukto constituency. In March 1995, he was re-elected to Second Legislative Assembly of the State of Arunachal Pradesh from the same constituency. He became the Minister of State for Cooperation from 21 March 1995. * 21 September 1996, he became the Minister for Animal Husbandry & Veterinary, Dairy Development. * 1998, he was the Minister for Power from 1998–2006. * October 1999, he was elected to third Legislative Assembly of Arunachal Pradesh. He was the Minister for Mines, Relief & Rehabilitation from 15 October 2002 to 27 July 2003. * 28 July 2003, he became the Minister for Relief & Rehabilitation and Disaster Management. * 2004, he was re-elected unopposed from Mukto constituency in the Arunachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly elections and became the minister for Power, NCER, and relief and rehabilitation.

Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh

On 9 April 2007, he became the sixth Chief Minister of the state, replacing

Gegong Apang Gegong Apang is an Indian politician from Arunachal Pradesh. He served as Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh from 18 January 1980 to 19 January 1999 and again from August 2003 to April 2007. Apang is Arunachal Pradesh's longest serving Chief M ...

. Again in 2009, he was elected unopposed from the same constituency and was sworn in as the Chief Minister of the state on 25 October 2009.

Disappearance and death

On 30 April 2011, the helicopter carrying Khandu and four other people on a trip from

Itanagar Itanagar () is the capital and largest town of the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh. The seat of Arunachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly, the seat of government of Arunachal Pradesh, and the seat of Gauhati High Court permanent bench at Naharlag ...

disappeared. On 2 May, the aerial search for Khandu was halted due to inclement weather, necessitating a move to ground search by the

, police, SSB and the

Indo-Tibetan Border Police The Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) is a border patrol organization of India deployed along its borders with Tibet Autonomous Region. It is one of the seven Central Armed Police Forces, established in 1962 in the aftermath of the Sino-Indian ...

. Personnel were searching a heavily forested 66 square kilometer section of

West Kameng district West Kameng (pronounced ) is a district of Arunachal Pradesh in northeastern India. It accounts for 8.86% of the total area of the state. The name is derived from the Kameng river, a tributary of the Brahmaputra, that flows through the district ...

, where satellites detected possible plane remnants. Witnesses said they heard a large explosion on the morning of 30 April, almost around the same time when the helicopter went missing. On 4 May 2011, at around 11 am, remnants of the crashed helicopter were found by a group of locals. Although the crash has been blamed on the poor condition of the helicopter, a single engine four seater

Eurocopter Airbus Helicopters SAS (formerly Eurocopter Group) is the helicopter manufacturing division of Airbus. It is the largest in the industry in terms of revenues and turbine helicopter deliveries. Its head office is located at Marseille Provence Ai ...

B8 provided by

Pawan Hans Pawan Hans Limited is a central public sector undertaking based at Noida in Delhi NCR, India. It is under the ownership of Ministry of Civil Aviation, Government of India. It has cumulatively flown more than 1 million hours and has had 2 ...

, the helicopter was only put into service in 2010.

P Chidambaram Palaniappan Chidambaram (born 16 September 1945), better known as P. Chidambaram, is an Indian politician and lawyer who currently serves as Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha. He served as the Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee ...

Home Minister The Minister of Home Affairs (or simply, the Home Minister, short-form HM) is the head of the Ministry of Home Affairs of the Government of India. One of the senior-most officers in the Union Cabinet, the chief responsibility of the Home Minist ...

of India confirmed the news of the death of Dorjee Khandu on the morning of 5 May. Earlier in a briefing

Minister of External Affairs In many countries, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the government department responsible for the state's diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral relations affairs as well as for providing support for a country's citizens who are abroad. The entit ...

SM Krishna Somanahalli Mallaiah Krishna (born 1 May 1932) is an Indian politician who served as Minister of External Affairs of India from 2009 to October 2012. He was the 16th Chief Minister of Karnataka from 1999 to 2004 and the 19th Governor of Mahar ...

said he is deeply pained by the demise of Dorjee Khandu. The last rites of the Chief Minister were performed in his native village, Gyangkhar, in Tawang district as per Monpa Buddhist rituals. His power minister

Jarbom Gamlin Jarbom Gamlin (16 April 1961 – 30 November 2014) was an Indian politician and a leader of the Indian National Congress political party in Arunachal Pradesh and briefly served as the Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh. Early life Gamlin was b ...

succeeded him as the Chief Minister, only to resign on 31 October the same year.

References

15. ∧″Who's Who 2004″-Published by Arunachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Khandu, Dorjee Chief Ministers of Arunachal Pradesh Chief ministers from Indian National Congress Indian Buddhists Indian Army personnel 1955 births 2011 deaths Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 2011 Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in India Victims of helicopter accidents or incidents People from Tawang district Arunachal Pradesh district councillors People from West Kameng district Indian National Congress politicians Arunachal Pradesh MLAs 1990–1995 Arunachal Pradesh MLAs 1995–1999 Arunachal Pradesh MLAs 1999–2004 Arunachal Pradesh MLAs 2004–2009 Arunachal Pradesh MLAs 2009–2014 State cabinet ministers of Arunachal Pradesh Accidental deaths in India