Arunachal assembly polls: What drives 'tacit deal' between BJP, Congress candidates

The BJP seems to be having an easy ride in Arunachal Pradesh, with the major opposition Congress party contesting only 25 of the 60 seats in the upcoming Assembly elections. The Northeast state is voting for both the Assembly and Lok Sabha polls on April 19.

Five BJP candidates, including Chief Minister Pema Khandu, are set to win uncontested and the results of the constituencies will be announced within a week.

It is learnt that the saffron party is likely to enjoy a sweep in 30 other Assembly seats as the Congress did not field any candidates there.

Tacit understanding?

Sources said that there is a "tacit understanding" between the local BJP and Congress candidates, which allows the former to win the election easily.

In the 2019 Assembly polls, while the BJP won 41 seats, the JD(U) bagged seven, the National People's Party (NPP) five, the Congress four, the People's Party of Arunachal (PPA) one. Two independent candidates won a seat each.

The Congress, however, is now left with just one MLA, former Chief Minister Nabam Tuki, as the other three MLAs defected to the BJP in the first week of March.

“The Congress released its first list of candidates on March 22 with 34 names. We did not field candidates in the other seats,” said senior Congress leader and in-charge of Arunachal Pradesh Congress, A Chella Kumar.

Unwilling to contest

Leaders from Opposition parties are typically unwilling to contest Assembly elections in Arunachal Pradesh, it is observed. For one thing, parties including the Congress find it difficult to "find" contestants to cover 60 seats.

In November 2016, all the leaders of Arunachal Congress, led by Pema Khandu, joined the BJP, accentuating the dearth of leaders.

“All leaders and workers of the Congress party joined the BJP in 2016. There is no suitable candidate to be fielded,” said Toko Mina, vice president, Arunachal Pradesh Congress Committee (APPCC).

A local Congress leader also said that the election is an expensive matter in Arunachal Pradesh. A candidate has to spend more than ₹25 crore to get elected in the Assembly polls. “So nobody wants to take the risk where the winning possibility is less,” the leader said, pleading anonymity.

It may be noted this phenomenon, also seen in Nagaland, is restricted to Assembly polls. There are just two Lok Sabha constituencies in Arunachal Pradesh, for which getting contestants is not a challenge.

Easy victory for BJP in 30+ seats

Of the 34 candidates nominated by the Congress, only 25 filed their nominations by the deadline of March 27. “I am not aware of the situation here. I took over only yesterday. You may talk to Tuki about it,” Kumar suggested when The Federal asked for a comment. Tuki too was not available for comment.

While there will be no contest in at least five seats, the BJP is likely to sweep 30 other Assembly seats where the Congress has not fielded any candidates and where the impact of other political parties is negligible.

In line with existing trends, five BJP candidates including Khandu from Tawang district, are set to win uncontested.

There is no opposition candidate against Khandu in his Mukto Assembly constituency, which he has been representing since the death of his father and former Chief Minister Dorjee Khandu, in 2011. Dorjee, a Congress leader, had represented the constituency in 1990, 1995, 1999 and till his death in April 2011 in a chopper accident.

In 2011, Pema Khandu was elected unopposed in the by-election from his father’s constituency as a Congress candidate. In 2014, he was re-elected, again unopposed, from the constituency in the assembly elections.

Khandu’s winning streak

Pema Khandu, who became the CM in July 2016, defected to the People’s Party of Arunachal, a BJP ally, with 43 Congress MLAs in September. In December, he joined the BJP.

He then defeated Congress candidate Thupten Kunphen by securing 70.74 per cent of the total votes polled in Mukto in the 2019 assembly election.

As the last day of filing nominations elapsed on March 27, no candidate filed their papers against Khandu and four other candidates, paving their way to victory. Khandu will be elected unopposed to the Assembly from his constituency for the third time.

“Right now we are not in a position to announce it. But yes, no other candidate has filed a nomination. We can announce his (Pema Khandu’s) election only after March 30, the last date of withdrawal of nomination,” Arunachal Pradesh Deputy Chief Electoral Officer Liken Koyu said.

Mysterious absence

There was also the mysterious absence of Opposition candidates in Papum Pare, suggesting a favourable landscape for the ruling BJP to dominate the upcoming polls. BJP leader Ratu Techi from Sagalee, Papum Pare, is set for an uncontested victory.

Hage Appa from Ziro in the Lower Subansiri district too faces no contest, further solidifying the stronghold of the saffron party in the state.

Nabam Tuki, having served 30 years as an MLA from Sagalee, has opted to contest parliamentary elections this time, filing his nomination from Aalo.