Congress wins speaker, deputy speaker's posts in Arunachal

Itanagar, Nov 4: Candidates of the ruling Congress, Wanglin Lowangdong and Tapang Taloh were Wednesday elected unopposed as the speaker and deputy speaker respectively of the Arunachal Pradesh assembly.

Lowangdong and Taloh, who were elected to the assembly for the second time, were declared elected unopposed to their new posts by the pro-tem Speaker Chow Tewa Mein in the absence of any other candidates for the two posts.

The first session of the fifth assembly, which began Tuesday will continue till Nov 6.

The pro-tem speaker on the opening day of the four-day session administered the oath to the members, including Chief Minister Dorjee Khandu and his 11 ministerial colleagues.

The Congress swept the Oct 13 assembly elections in Arunachal Pradesh and retained power for a second consecutive term by securing 42 seats in the 60-member house. Five seats each were won by the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and the Trinamool Congress, which made its electoral debut in the border state.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) managed to win three seats while the People's Party of Arunachal (PPA), the lone regional party, secured four seats and one seat went in favour of an Independent candidate.

--IANS