Congress demands Arunachal's governor JP Rajkhowa's sacking

NEW DELHI: Boosted by the SC order restoring its Arunachal Pradesh government, Congress on Wednesday demanded the sacking of state governor JP Rajkhowa and apologies from Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah even as ‘come back’ CM Nabam Tuki geared up to deal with Congress rebel MLAs with a carrot-and-stick approach.

The Supreme Court order restoring the Tuki government has not said that he should take a floor test. However, ousted CM Kalikho Pul’s Arunachal People’s Party supported by the BJP could bring a no-confidence motion. Tuki and the Congress plan to adopt a carrot and stick policy to win over some former Congress MLAs who are with Pul.

Tuki will ask some rebel Congress MLAs “to either return to the Congress fold or face disqualification from the assembly, like Uttarakhand Congress rebels,” a source said.

While hailing the Supreme Court order and lashing out ousted chief minister Kalikho Pul, a visibly happy Tuki told reporters in Delhi that he was appealing to Congress rebel MLAs to return.

“Some Congress MLAs should realise their mistake and come back to us. I appeal to my old colleagues to come back to the party and work for the real development of Arunachal Pradesh,” he said.

A Congress insider said that Tuki’s appeal was well-designed. The apex court verdict also comes in handy for Congress in dealing with politics beyond Arunachal.