The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday left out three Ministers and an MLA accused of rape from the list of candidates for the Arunachal Pradesh Assembly polls.
Elections to the 60-member House in the frontier State will the held simultaneously with the Lok Sabha election.
Chief Minister Pema Khandu will contest again from the Mukto seat, Deputy Chief Minister Chowna Mein from his Chowkham seat, and Assembly Speaker Pasang Dorjee Sona from his Mechukha seat. State BJP president Biyuram Wahge will seek re-election from the Pakke-Kessang constituency.
The list has four notable omissions. They are Home Minister Bamang Felix from the Nyapin constituency, Agriculture Minister Tage Taki from Ziro Hapoli, Industries Minister Tumke Bagra from Aalo West, and parliamentary secretary and State BJP spokesperson Laisam Simai from Nampong.
Also dropped from the list is BJP’s Koloriang MLA Lokam Tassar, who was accused of raping a pregnant woman in 2022. He has been replaced by Pani Taram.
Among the candidates are six who joined the BJP after winning the 2019 elections on a Janata Dal-United (JD-U) ticket, three who switched over from Congress, and one each from the National People’s Party (NPP) and the People’s Party of Arunachal (PPA).
They include former Union Minister Ninong Ering (Pasighat West) from Congress, Mutchu Mithi (Roing) from the NPP, and Dongru Siongju (Bomdila) and Techi Kaso (Itanagar) from the JD(U).
Chakat Aboh, who joined the BJP after winning the Khonsa West seat in 2019 as an independent backed by all the parties after her husband, Tirong Aboh, won the constituency posthumously, is one of four women fielded by the party. The other three are Tsering Lhamu (Lumla seat), Nyabi Jini Dirchi (Basar), and Dasanglu Pul (Hayuliang).
The only woman to have missed out is Gum Tayeng, who won the Dambuk seat for the BJP five years ago. She has been replaced by Puinnyo Apum.
After the last of the switchovers in February, the BJP had 53 legislators in the Assembly followed by two each of the Congress and the NPP. The remaining three were independent MLAs.
In 2019, the BJP won 41 seats, the JD(U) seven, the NPP five, Congress four, and the PPA one while two seats went to independents. All seven of the JD(U) and the lone PPA legislator joined the BJP over the years.
