Prem Khandu Thungan

Prem Khandu Thungon
[[File:Prem Khandu Thungon n.jpg|200px|upright=1]]
Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh
In office 13 August 1975 – 18 September 1979
Lieutenant Governor	K. A. A. Raja<br/>R. N. Haldipur
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	Tomo Riba
Union ministerial offices Minister of State for Urban Affairs and Employment In office 18 January 1993 – 13 September 1995 Prime Minister P. V. Narasimha Rao Minister Sheila Kaul Preceded by M. Arunachalam Succeeded by S. S. Ahluwalia Minister of State for Water Resources In office 19 January 1993 – 10 February 1995 Prime Minister P. V. Narasimha Rao Minister Vidya Charan Shukla Succeeded by P. V. Rangayya Naidu Minister of State for Industry<br/>(Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises) In office 2 July 1992 – 18 January 1993 Prime Minister P. V. Narasimha Rao Minister P. V. Narasimha Rao Minister of State for Commerce and Industry In office 21 June 1991 – 2 July 1992 Prime Minister P. V. Narasimha Rao Minister P. V. Narasimha Rao Succeeded by P. J. Kurien
Personal details
Born	(1946-06-05) 5 June 1946 Shergaon, West Kameng district, Arunachal Pradesh
Political party	Indian National Congress <br> <small> (1979-present) </small> <br> Janata Party <br> <small>(until 1979) </small>
Spouse(s)	Phurpa Lamu Thungon
Children	2

Prem Khandu Thungon (born 5 June 1946)<ref name="loksabha">"Shri P.W. Thungon: Members Bioprofile". Lok Sabha. National Informatics Centre. Archived from the original on 16 November 2018. Retrieved 16 November 2018.<!-- IP address in URL is due to faulty Indian Government server configuration, the source however is legitimate. --></ref> is an Indian politician from Arunachal Pradesh. He was the first chief minister subsequent to the erstwhile North-East Frontier Agency becoming a union territory in 1972, and the first assembly elections held in 1978. As of 2023, he remains the youngest chief minister of the state. He also served as Deputy Minister for Supply and Rehabilitation (1980-1982) and Deputy Minister in the Ministry of Education, Culture and Social Welfare (1982-1984) in Third Indira Gandhi ministry.Then he served as Minister of State in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry (1991-1992), Ministry of Industry- Department of Heavy Industry and Public Enterprises (1992-1993), Ministry of Urban Affairs and Employment (1993-1995) in P. V. Narasimha Rao ministry.

Political career

North-East Frontier Agency (NEFA) conducted its first elections for the state legislature in 1977.<ref name=":1">Bose, M. L. (1997). History of Arunachal Pradesh. New Delhi: Concept Publishing Company. ISBN 81-7022-665-1.</ref> Thungon became the youngest chief minister of Arunachal Pradesh at the age of 29.<ref>"Pema Khandu set to be 3rd youngest CM of Arunachal". The New Indian Express. 17 July 2016. Retrieved 10 April 2023.</ref>

In the first parliamentary election in the state, the 1977 Indian general election, Thungon was elected uncontested from the Arunachal West Lok Sabha constituency on an Indian National Congress party ticket. In the 1980 Indian general election, Thungon won the seat amongst four other candidates with 41,736 votes of the total 98,260 valid votes cast.<ref name=":1" />

Corruption cases

In 1998, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) registered a case followed by chargesheeting ten people 5 years later. This included Thungon, who was then a Minister of State in the Ministry of Urban Affairs and Employment in the P. V. Narsimha Rao ministry, and Maheshwari who opened a bank account in the name of a non-existent person to divert money.<ref name=":0">"Graft case: Former minister P K Thungon convicted in corruption case". The Indian Express. Press Trust of India. 22 July 2015. Retrieved 10 April 2023.</ref> In July 2015, special CBI judge Ajay Kumar Jain found Thungon and three others guilty of criminal conspiracy, cheating, and forgery under sections of the Indian Penal Code and Prevention of Corruption Act.<ref name=":0" /> Subsequently, the court sentenced Thungon to 4.5 years in jail and a fine of INR 10,000. The court observed that all financial records in the case were fudged but nobody complained. The judgement further added, "The saddest part is that its knowledge was apparent both at the Centre and the state level, but no action was taken... On the other hand, the entire government machinery worked to shield the offences committed but he minister and bureaucrats. Fortunately, the offences surfaced during investigation in some other case." Thungon was 68 years old at the time of conviction.<ref>Shakil, Sana (28 July 2015). "Ex-union minister PK Thungon gets 4.5 yrs jail in corruption case". The Times of India. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 10 April 2023.</ref>

CBI registered another graft case in 1996 against Thungon, Sheila Kaul, the then Urban Affairs and Employment Minister, Tulsi Balodi, Lakhpa Tsering, and Krishna. It concerned allotment of government shops and stalls between September 1993 and June 1994. The five accused were charged with dishonesty and fraud in the allotment in contravention of rules. Proceedings against Kaul and Balodi were abated as they died during the trial. In March 2016, Thungon was sentenced three and half years. In addition, special CBI judge Sanjeev Aggarwal imposed a fine of INR 100,000 on Thungon.<ref>"Ex-Union Minister PK Thungon Gets Jail Term In 1993-94 Graft Case". NDTV. Press Trust of India. 1 March 2016. Retrieved 10 April 2023.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)</ref>

CBI lodged another case in 1996 against 18 people including Thungon in regard to alleged irregularities in allotment of government quarters. The chargesheet in the case was filed only in 2003 with offences for forgery, criminal conspiracy and corruption framed in 2009. In 2017, special CBI judge Kamini Lau acquitted 15 people, including Thungon on the grounds of insufficient evidence almost 21 years later. The other three died during the course of the trial.<ref>"Former Arunachal Pradesh CM P.K. Thungon acquitted in Housing scam". thenortheasttoday.com. 27 December 2017. Retrieved 10 April 2023.</ref>