The return of 43 Congress MLAs including Chief Minister Pema Khandu to the People’s Party of Arunachal (PPA) was not unforeseen though the BJP has denied that it was involved in the chain of events.
Speaking to The Hindu , Assam Finance Minister and convenor of the North Eastern Democratic Alliance (NEDA), the north eastern chapter of the NDA, Himanta Biswa Sarma said while “the BJP has nothing the do with what happened on Friday,” he would welcome the PPA MLAs to NEDA.
NEDA membership “I will be in Itanagar tomorrow (Sunday) to formally welcome Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh, Pema Khandu, into the NDA fold with a membership of NEDA. While we welcome them, we must make it clear that the BJP was in no way involved in this chain of events,” he said.
The Congress MLAs had left the PPA after the Supreme Court had reversed the dismissal of the Congress-led Nabam Tuki government in July this year.
Mr. Khandu had met with Congress leaders just 12 days ago as well, but it isn’t clear whether he had given any advance warning of what was to come. The BJP on its party appeared remarkably prepared on Friday, with the leadership welcoming the PPA MLAs in the NDA fold.
However, according to senior sources in the BJP, even as he took oath, Chief Minister Pema Khandu had been in touch with BJP president Amit Shah. “He explained that the SC order was such that the MLAs had to return to the Congress. Amitbhai said they (the MLAs) were free to do what they wanted, and if returning to the Congress was their only option, then so be it,” said a senior office bearer in the party.
Mr Khandu, the BJP leader said, was never made to feel unwelcome or blamed for the PPAs reversal of fortune in Arunachal Pradesh. “When he landed in Delhi after being sworn in as Chief Minister, the day was a Saturday, he asked both Prime Minister Modi and Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi for time. Prime Minister Modi met him on Sunday morning itself, while Rahul Gandhi kept him waiting, his own party’s chief minister, till Wednesday afternoon,” said the BJP leader.
After the Supreme Court verdict in July that restored the Congress government in Arunachal Pradesh, it was felt that matters in the state had been settled for some time to come. The suicide of former chief minister Kalikho Pul and the defection of the entire Congress legislative party on Friday, however, shows that the State continues to astound pundits.
