Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister, 4 other BJP nominees may be elected unopposed
ITANAGAR: Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu and four other BJP nominees may be elected unopposed as no other candidates filed nominations from their assembly seats, an official said on Wednesday.
Fifteen candidates will also try their luck for the two Lok Sabha seats in the northeastern state. The Lok Sabha and the assembly elections in Arunachal Pradesh will be held simultaneously on April 19, for which the process of filing nominations ended this evening, he said. Scrutiny of nomination papers will be done on Thursday and the last date for withdrawal of candidature is March 30.
”A total of 197 candidates have filed papers for the 60 assembly constituencies. Five BJP nominees, including Chief Minister Pema Khandu, may be elected unopposed as no other candidates filed nominations from their seat,” the official said. After scrutiny of nomination papers on Thursday, the fate of the five BJP candidates would be clear, Joint Chief Electoral Officer Liken Koyu said. Speaking on the parliamentary elections, he said eight candidates filed nominations for the Arunachal West Lok Sabha constituency.
Union Earth Science Minister Kiren Rijiju and Arunachal Pradesh Congress Committee President Nabam Tuki are among those who submitted papers from the seat. Arunachal East Lok Sabha constituency witnessed seven nominations.
The BJP has fielded sitting MP Tapir Gao, while the Congress has nominated Bosiram Siram from the eastern parliamentary seat. The chief minister is seeking re-election from the Mukto assembly constituency in Tawang district.
The constituency is considered a stronghold for Khandu, who was elected unopposed in the by-election in 2010 as a Congress nominee, following the demise of his father and former chief minister Dorjee Khandu in a helicopter crash.
Khandu also won the seat in the 2014 and 2019 assembly elections.
The other BJP candidates, who may be elected uncontested, are Ratu Techi from Sagalee constituency, Mutchu Mithi from Roing, Jikke Tako from Tali and Nyato Dukam from Taliha, the official said. Sagalee in the Papum Pare district was once considered a Congress bastion.
Dukam and Tako are sitting MLAs from the Taliha and Tali constituencies respectively, while Mithi, who was a sitting NPP MLA, switched to the BJP ahead of the polls this year.
The BJP has fielded candidates in all the assembly constituencies, while the opposition Congress nominated 34, and the National People’s Party has 29 nominees.
The NCP and the regional outfit Peoples’ Party of Arunachal (PPA) have nominated 17 and two candidates respectively for the assembly polls.
Counting of votes for the assembly elections will be held on June 2 and for Lok Sabha polls on June 4.
In the 2019 assembly elections in the state, the BJP won 41 seats, JD(U) got seven, the NPP secured five and the Congress bagged four.
The PPA won one seat and two Independent candidates emerged victorious. The BJP had also won both Lok Sabha seats in the 2019 elections.
Source: Press Trust of India
