The Hindu : Front Page : CLP meet tomorrow to elect Arunachal Chief Minister

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Oct 12, 2004

Front Page

Front Page

CLP meet tomorrow to elect Arunachal Chief Minister

By Sushanta Talukdar

GUWAHATI, OCT. 11. The decks have been cleared for the installation of a new Congress government in Arunachal Pradesh with the party securing a majority by winning 34 of the 60 Assembly seats. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won nine seats, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and the Arunachal Congress won two each and Independents won the remaining 13.

Results for 14 seats were announced today. The Chief Minister, Gegong Apang, won from the Tuting-Yinkgkiong Assembly constituency. However, the Congress suffered a big jolt when its working president, Takam Sanjoy, lost to the BJP candidate, Balu Raja, in the Palin seat.

The Congress Legislature Party (CLP) will meet on Wednesday to elect its leader, the Pradesh Congress Committee president and former Chief Minister, Mukut Mithi, told The Hindu over phone from Itanagar.

Asked if he was a contender for the Chief Minister's post, Mr. Mithi said he would take a decision only after discussions with the newly-elected legislators. "As per convention, the new Chief Minister would be elected by the elected representatives. The CLP will meet on Wednesday. Let's see what they have to say in regard to the election of the CLP leader."

Assurance

At a press conference in Itanagar, Mr. Apang said the Congress would provide "a strong, stable and efficient government." Asked if he would head the State for another term, he said the Congress president, Sonia Gandhi, would take the final decision. He described the poll outcome as a mandate for Ms. Gandhi and the Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh.

The AICC in-charge of Arunachal Pradesh, Imran Kidwai, said the new Chief Minister would be elected by the CLP. But Mr. Apang was most likely to be "the unanimous choice as till now no one else has staked claim for the post."

Mr. Kidwai termed the poll outcome as "a big gain for the Congress" despite the BJP securing as many as nine seats. In the 1999 polls, the BJP failed to win even a single seat. He said that in the last Lok Sabha elections, the BJP had won in as many as 53 segments and the Congress had come first in only seven Assembly segments. "We have to take into account the results of the election held prior to this poll and not the Assembly polls of 1999. Going by the outcome of the Lok Sabha elections, the outcome of the Assembly polls is clearly a big gain for the Congress." He said the Congress would form the government on its own though the "Independents are most welcome to support the Government and to join the Congress if they want."

The BJP leader in-charge of the North-Eastern States, V. Satish, described the party's victory in nine seats as a major gain. Since the party had no representative in the Assembly, this victory would help it consolidate its base in Arunachal Pradesh.

Mr. Mithi, however, claimed that the BJP candidates had won "on the strength of the popularity they earned while in the Congress. Their victory does not necessarily indicate in any way that the electorate of these constituencies have voted in favour of the BJP."

Our New Delhi Special Correspondent writes:

The Congress Working Committee member, Ramesh Chennithala, said on phone from Itanagar that the process of electing a new leader of the CLP would be smooth. The party spokesperson, Jayanti Natarajan, said that the outcome was a forerunner of the party's victory in Maharashtra.

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