Twist in Arunachal; Khandu to be CM

In a dramatic turnaround in Arunachal Pradesh, the Congress high command on Saturday replaced Chief Minister Nabam Tuki by choosing a new leader, Pema Khandu.

Khandu staked claim to power on the basis of the support of 44 party MLAs. As Tuki stepped down, all the dissident Congress MLAs, including former chief minister Kalikho Pul, returned to the party fold and elected Khandu the new legislature party leader. Khandu, the son of two-time Arunachal Pradesh chief minister Dorjee Khandu, was among the core group of the Congress legislators who had revolted against Tuki in December last year under Pul’s leadership.

“There were differences within the party. Every family has differences. We met this morning. I decided I would step down. This is because I want the democratically elected government to survive and we can give a befitting reply to the BJP’s unholy plans of toppling the Congress government,” Tuki told DH over the phone, minutes before he left for the Raj Bhavan to tender his resignation.

On Friday, as Tuki scrambled to put together numbers for his trust vote on Saturday, the rebels sent word that they were ready to return to the Congress if a change in leadership was effected.

After the Supreme Court verdict on Wednesday reinstated the Tuki-led government, Governor Roy had given Tuki time till Saturday to prove his majority. Both Tuki and Assembly Speaker Nabam Rebia sought ‘more time’ to call a session, but the governor had turned it down.

Former chief minister Pul had on Thursday paraded 42 MLAs supporting him, including 11 BJP MLAs and two Independents. On the other hand, Tuki had only 15 Congress legislators with him.

Reliable sources hinted that the situation started turning around on Friday evening, when the Congress high command stepped in and asked Tuki to save the government. Overnight negotiations ensured that the 44 Congress MLAs, including Pul, reached the state capital Itanagar to attend an urgent Congress Legislature Party meeting called by Tuki. Speaker Rebia was not present.

After a meeting of over two hours, a consensus was arrived at, the sources added. “We all were looking for a solution to these months of crisis since the state was getting affected. We were able to arrive at a consensus. They have elected me as the new CLP leader. I have the support of 44 Congress MLAs. Two Independents have also assured me support. We have been able to arrive at a settlement because everyone got involved, including Tuki and Pul. We were never against the Congress that way,” Chief Minister-designate Khandu told DH over the phone on Saturday evening.

Pema met the governor with the letter of support signed by 44 Congress MLAs. The Raj Bhavan is yet to officially announce his swearing-in. “It is for the Raj Bhavan to inform me if the governor wants me to parade the MLAs in my support ahead of the swearing-in, or I take the trust vote after the swearing-in. Whatever the case, we have the numbers,” Khandu said. Repeated attempts by this newspaper to contact Pul went unanswered.