Declined Arunachal CM's post: Kiren Rijiju

Itanagar, March 4: Union Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju on Friday, March 4 said he was offered the post of Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh but he declined as he did not want to get involved in state politics.

"Chief Minister Kalikho Pul offered me the post first but I declined...He wanted me to lead the new government but I did not want to switch at this point of time because I have been given a mandate to represent people of the state in Parliament and I am doing my duty," he told reporters at the sidelines of an event at Rajiv Gandhi University at Doimukh, near here.

"I politely turned down the offer of Kalikho Pul and his team and said I don't want get involved in the state politics, so I declined to become the chief minister and said that I will not come back to the legislative assembly's affairs and I will continue to be in Delhi," he said.

Rijiju also appreciated Pul saying that he is not a selfish person. He said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had given him responsibility as a minister which he had to discharge for the country and he would get the maximum benefit for Arunachal Pradesh.

The union minister was responding to media queries on allegations by Congress that he was the mastermind behind the political crisis in the state. "The Congress was saying that we (Centre) imposed the President's Rule (in Arunachal Pradesh) because I wanted it. "In fact the MLAs and the Governor were unhappy with me because the Governor recommended central rule on the night when the Raj Bhawan was gheraoed on December 15.

But we delayed it. We said let the state government handle the state affairs," Rijiju said. "President's Rule was finally imposed on January 26 after the Cabinet recommended it on January 24," he said, adding the sequence of events was "opposite" of what had been said (by Congress).

"The Governor and the dissident group were unhappy with us because we did not agree to impose President Rule. "But when the Governor said his and his family's life were under threat and when for the second time the Raj Bhawan was gheroaed and the road was blocked, the Cabinet took the decision.

"Initially we were reluctant as we were not interested in imposing it," he added.

PTI