GUWAHATI: Kiren Rijiju, a prominent BJP leader from the Northeast, has been appointed as the Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Minority Affairs in the newly formed cabinet of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Monday.
Rijiju, who has previously served as a Union Minister in both the first and second terms of the Modi government, was among the 71 Ministers who took the oath of office at Rashtrapati Bhavan on Sunday.
His extensive portfolio history includes tenures as the Minister of Earth Sciences, Minister of Food Processing Industries, and independent charge of the Ministries of Youth Affairs and Sports, Law and Justice, as well as MoS for Minority Affairs and Home Affairs.
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In the recent parliamentary elections, he was re-elected from the Arunachal West constituency, securing 2,05,417 votes and defeating state Congress President Nabam Tuki by a margin of 1,00,738 votes.
At 53, Rijiju has represented the Arunachal West Lok Sabha constituency for four terms -2004, 2014, 2019, and 2024.
With Rijiju now holding the Minority Affairs portfolio, attention will be on how he handles the resettlement issue of the Chakmas and Hajongs.
Rijiju, had recently courted controversy by announcing plans to resettle the Chakma and Hajong communities from Arunachal Pradesh to Assam.
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The opposition in Assam expressed serious concerns, questioning if the state was becoming a “dumping ground” for outsiders.
The Chakma Development Foundation of India (CDFI) also criticised Rijiju for ignoring Supreme Court orders to process citizenship applications from Chakma-Hajong migrants in Arunachal Pradesh.
Suhas Chakma, CDFI’s Founder, urged Rijiju and the government to submit a statement to the Supreme Court if they opposed granting citizenship to these migrants.
