BJP appoints R S Prasad, Tarun Chugh as observers to elect Arunachal CM

The parliamentary board of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday named senior leaders Ravi Shankar Prasad and Tarun Chugh as the party’s central observers to elect the legislature party leader of Arunachal Pradesh.

The results of the assembly polls in Arunachal Pradesh, which were held simultaneously with Lok Sabha election, were announced on June 2—two days ahead of declaration of outcome of the general election. A BJP office bearer said that the legislature party meet is expected on Wednesday and the swearing-in of the new government is likely on June 13.

The BJP won 46 of the total 60 assembly seats in the state and incumbent chief minister Pema Khandu, who has been at the helm since 2016, is expected to get another term at the top post.

National Peoples’ Party (NPP), which is a constituent of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government at the Centre, came second with 5 seats, Nationalist Congress Party (NPP) won 3 seats, Peoples’ Party of Arunachal (PPA) bagged 2 seats, Congress won 1 and the rest 3 seats were secured by independent candidates.

BJP office bearers in Arunachal Pradesh attribute the delay in formation of the next government to events in Delhi, following the announcement of the Lok Sabha results, which saw the ruling party at Centre not securing the 272 seats required to form a government on its own.

“The results in Delhi have played a role in our government formation. The process of National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government formation at Centre, swearing in of the ministers and portfolio allocations got over on Monday. So, we should have the new government in place in our state soon,” said BJP state unit chief Biyuram Wahge, who won from the Pakke Kesang seat this time.

Chief minister Pema Khandu, his deputy Chowna Mein, some newly elected MLAs and other office bearers of BJP were in New Delhi the past few days and returned to Itanagar on Monday—a day after swearing in of the new cabinet at Centre.

“We are waiting for the party high command to send a central observer to Itanagar. Once he/she is here, the newly elected MLAs will meet and elect their leader. While no date has been fixed yet, we are hoping that all processes and the swearing-in of the new government takes place this week,” said Wahge.

The Election Commission (EC) had preponed counting of votes for the assembly elections to Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim by two days as the tenure of the two assemblies were set to expire on June 2.

Arunachal Pradesh governor KT Parnaik dissolved the state assembly on June 2 while asking Khandu to continue in his post till the next government is formed. The NPP, which secured 5 seats in this election and came second, has announced its support to the BJP government.

“The delay in the formation of the new government is not good for the state as it affects development and other administrative works. But that’s how BJP functions, the state unit of the party can’t take any decision and have to wait for directions from the high command,” said former chief minister and Congress state unit president Nabam Tuki.

In 2019, the ruling BJP had retained power by winning 41 seats; Janata Dal United) won 7, National Peoples Party (NPP) got 5, Congress won 4, Peoples Party of Arunachal Pradesh got 1 and the rest 2 seats were secured by independents.