11 Congress candidates for Arunachal Assembly elected unopposed

ITANAGAR: Eleven Congress candidates including the chief Minister Nabam Tuki were set to be elected unopposed to the party-ruled Arunachal Pradesh Assembly after the withdrawal of nominations by the opposition BJP for the April nine polls for the 60-member House.


Chief Minister Nabam Tuki was left without a rival in the Sagalee seat after his lone BJP rival Nabam Tade withdrew his nominations yesterday, the last date of withdrawal.

Surprisingly, the BJP lodged a complaint with the Election Commission alleging that Tade's signature was forged.

State Chief Electoral Officer Chandra Bhusan Kumar said that he had forwarded the complaint to the EC for action.

Former Health and Family Welfare Minister Atun Welly who joined the BJP and filed nomination after being denied a Congress ticket from Pakke-Kessang constituency withdrew his nomination which cleared the decks for Congress nominee, Kameng Dolo, a former deputy chief minister, to win unopposed.

The other Congress candidates set to be elected unopposed were Rural Development minister Tanga Byaling (Nacho) Tourism Minister Pema Khandu (Mukto), Parliamentary Secretary Nabam Rebia (Doimukh), former minister Lombo Tayeng (Mebo), sitting MLAs Phurpa Tsering (Dirang), Punji Mara (Taliha), Bamang Felix (Nyapin) and Takam Pario (Palin), besides first-timer Mama Natung from Seppa West.

Ten out of 11 assembly seats were in Arunachal West parliamentary constituency and one, Mebo, in Arunachal East constituency.

"Our landslide victory in the Assembly polls is a foregone conclusion," Arunachal Pradesh Congress Committee President Mukut Mithi said.

"The massive development, Sagalee in particular, led to unopposed election of so many candidates, including the CM," he said.

State BJP president Tai Tagak, however, alleged that most party candidates were intimidated and threatened by the Congress 'creating a situation never seen before in Indian democracy'.