A new dragon rises in Arunachal!

Guwahati, Oct 23 : When the elections were announced in Arunachal Pradesh last month nobody had any doubt about who would form the next government.

For a state not known to have an Opposition, it was a forgone conclusion that the Congress was coming back to power.

But for the rest of the world the only interest left was to see how the China angle was handled by the people of Arunachal, while the latter was keen to see how political rivals of Chief Minister Dorjee Khandu were taken care of.

For the record Congress won 42 seats, NCP, Trinamool Congress and others bagged five seats each while the BJP managed only three.

In fact political pundits felt that all others MLAs, except the three BJP ones, will flock to the Congress as they are actually Congressmen.

The BJP MLAs will stay put for some time. But people of Arunachal see a repeat of 60-0 like last times because politics in the state cannot be seen through the prism of real politics of mainstream India.

The actual focus was China for the rest of India and anti Khandu forces for people of Arunachal Pradesh. Both were thrashed. With nearly 80 per cent polling, it was beyond the realm of any thought that China could ever claim any territory of Arunachal Pradesh.

In 2004, China’s claims on Arunachal Pradesh prodded the state’s electorate to clock 70.21 per cent on the voting meter.

''You don’t require campaigns in Arunachal Pradesh to make people exercise their franchise. Just let Beijing bark before the polls,'' a voter remarked.

Sure enough, mandate 2009 saw the turnout increase to 72 per cent. Dorjee Khandu knew it. Hence when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit was opposed by China, he knew instantly it was no point wasting energy and money on wooing voters.

--UNI

(c) 2009 Published with permission from United News of India.
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