Itanagar: For Jarbom Gamlin, who was sworn in as the Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh on Friday, the journey to the top post marks the culmination of a politician well versed in the art of power play in a state where personal
loyalties are fragile.
50-year-old Gamlin, a product of Delhi University where he did his graduation in History Honours from St Stephen's College and LLB from the North Campus, was instrumental in the downfall of Gegong Apang ministry in 2007 and helped instal
Dorjee Khandu in the top post.
Born in 1961 at Alo in West Siang district of the state, Gamlin did his schooling in Goalpara in Assam before shifting to Delhi in for further studies. He obtained his BA degree in 1982 and LLB degree in 1984.
He headed the powerful All Arunachal Pradesh Students' Union from 1981 to 1983 and began his political career in 1999 when he was elected a member of Lok Sabha as a Congress candidate from Arunachal West constituency defeating Omak
Apang, son of Gegong Apang.
In 2004, Gamlin made his debut in the state assembly winning from Liromova constituency in West Siang district and became Home and Parliamentary Affairs Minister in Gegong Apang cabinet.
However, within a year, Gamlin was sacked from Apang ministry following differences between him and the then Chief Minister.
In 2007, Gamlin got back to Gegong Apang by engineering the latter's ouster as Chief Minister and helping Dorjee taking over the reins of the state.
On being re-elected MLA from Nilo Mova, Gamlin was made the Power Minister.
That Gamlin managed to edge out a strong contender for the chief ministerial post like PCC chief and PWD Minister Nabam Tuki speaks volume of his political management.
Second among the eight children of a government employee, Gamlin has two wives one of whom is an IAS officer and is a Joint Secretary in the Union Health Ministry. He has two daughters and a son.
Off politics, Gamlin is a fan of cricket, football and tennis.
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