Fractured opposition helped Congress sweep Arunachal polls

By Syed Zarir Hussain, Itanagar, Oct 23 : The election results of Arunachal Pradesh were along expected lines, with a fractured opposition helping the Congress party sweep the polls. The surprise though was Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress emerging as the main opposition and the downslide of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

The Congress improved its record, winning 42 seats in the 60-member legislature, eight more than it won in the 2004 assembly elections.

"We expected around 40 seats, but then the results were even more overwhelming. I would say the victory is a result of the faith of the people in the Congress government as we worked for the overall socio-economic development of the region," an elated Chief Minister Dorjee Khandu told IANS.

The Trinamool Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) with five seats each have emerged as the primary opposition, followed by the People's Party of Arunachal with four seats and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) with three, plus an independent legislator.

In the 2004 assembly elections, the Congress had won 34 seats, independents 13, the BJP nine, and the NCP and the regional Arunachal Congress two each.

The emergence of the Trinamool Congress in the political landscape of Arunachal Pradesh is more by default than ideology.

Of the 28 candidates fielded by the Trinamool Congress, five were former Congress ministers and 10 sitting legislators from the ruling party who were denied tickets this time.

Two of the dissident Congress candidates, Tani Loffa and Kamthok Lowang, who contested as Trinamool Congress candidates, won the elections.

The remaining three victorious Trinamool Congress candidates also won the polls with several of the dissidents campaigning against the Congress candidates.

"We admit those who were denied tickets worked against the interests of the Congress party and hence maybe we lost in two to three other seats," a senior Congress leader said.

But the biggest loser in this election was the BJP that managed to win just three seats.

The party that inspired former Congress party leader Gegong Apang to form a BJP-led government in Arunachal Pradesh in 2003 is today almost sinking into oblivion.

In the 2004 parliamentary elections, the BJP won both the Lok Sabha seats and managed to create a saffron wave in the hills of Arunachal Pradesh.

The BJP's downslide is largely attributed to the switching of allegiance by its former firebrand MP Kiren Rijiju who joined the Congress a couple of months before the elections.

"The BJP cannot revive in the region due to its wrong policies and views," Rijiju said.

This election also saw the end of an era for four-time chief minister Gegong Apang who lost this time. Even his son Omak Apang bit the dust. Both were Congress candidates.

As of now, the road for the Congress seems to be easy and smooth with Dorjee Khandu expected to once again head the state government.