Itanagar: Arunachal Pradesh chief minister Pema Khandu on Wednesday welcomed the en-bloc merger of Congress party workers of 16th Yachuli Assembly constituency with the BJP here in the presence of state BJP president Tapir Gao, parliamentary secretaries Likha Saaya, Tamar Murtem and Tage Taki.

Yachuli is around 100km from here.

The Congress workers who joined the BJP include zilla parishad members from Yazali, Yachuli and Pistana Anchal Samiti llock along with their respective Anchal chairpersons.

They also include 26 panchayat members from Yazali zilla, 50 from Yachuli zilla and 33 from Pistana zilla.

The chief minister also welcomed the joining of members from Block Youth Congress Committee and Block Seva Dal Congress Committee to the BJP en-bloc.

Khandu applauded the Yachuli constituency for becoming "Congress mukt". He appreciated the move of the members saying it was a wise decision taken in the interest of the development of the constituency. He said once one came into the party fold, there was no difference between newcomers and old members.

Khandu said Prime Minister Narendra Modi was very concerned about the development of the Northeast, particularly Arunachal. He said Modi's visit is scheduled for February 15.

Responding to the key issue of infrastructure development in Yachuli for efficient functioning of the divisional commissioner's office, the chief minister said it was now the responsibility of the state government to develop the new headquarters. He said the state government will accord one per cent free power share for local area development from the revenue generated from 405MW Ranganadi hydro power projects.

The chief minister appreciated the visionary step by Yazali's people who had welcomed the dam, which is now meeting the power requirements of state capital and districts in Arunachal.