Congress remains clueless in Arunachal Pradesh crisis

NEW DELHI: The Congress central leadership was comically caught clueless about the brewing trouble within its Aruanchal Pradesh government and was stunned by the infamous ‘Aaya Ram Gaya Ram-brand’ whole-scale defection of its MLAs and the entire cabinet led by chief Minister Pema Khandu himself within two months after the party won a hard-fought legal victory from Supreme Court against Modi government’s dismal of its regime.

Worse, the Congress leadership this time, given the clinical execution of the ‘coup’ by its rivals exposing no rough edges, also finds itself with no credible options, including no solid ground to pose a legal challenge, to fight back.

Even as the AICC leaders, including CP Joshi, the general secretary-in-charge of state, asserted their MLAs before this round of defection had neither sought any meetings or raised any internal issues of differences with the high command, questions are being asked in Congress leadership how the AICC managers for the state could be so clueless about the party.

“Given the messy experience we all had in Aruanchal Pradesh a few months ago which also revealed the intentions of the BJP and Modi government, why did the high command fail to be on extra vigilant to avert a repeat show of the toppling act,” asked a senior Congress leader, who didn’t want to be identified.

The fact that the only remaining Congress MLA is the same Nabam Tuki, whom the high command just two months ago coolly removed as CM to placate the ‘BJP mixed-up Congress rebels’ and foist Khandu as new CM also exposed the leadership’s total misjudgment of character and loyalty.

Whether the entrenched Tuki had forewarned any AICC representative of the brewing trouble also remains a matter of speculation.