Congress Releases Candidate List For Arunachal Pradesh Assembly Elections

The central election committee of the Indian National Congress (INC) today announced the list of candidates for the Arunachal Pradesh assembly elections. The election commission on March 16 announced the schedule for the state assembly elections when it announced the Lok Sabha election date. The state will go to the polling booth to elect the assembly legislators on April 19.

The party outed 34 candidates” names for the 60-member legislative assembly. A total of 32 constituencies are ST seats in the party”s list. BJP had on March 13 announced its candidates for all the 60 seats in the state, with the chief minister Pema Khandu contesting from Mukto constituency.

However, the Congress list announced today included the candidate for the Mukto constituency. Congress” Sanhey Phuntsok will confront the chief minister. In the 2019 assembly elections, the BJP won 41 of the total 60 seats and formed a government led by Pema Khandu. The Congress had contested in 46 constituencies and secured four seats – Sagalee, Pasighat West, Mebo and Borduria-Bagapani. Notably, the Congress”s 34-member list of candidates included names for Pasighat West and Mebo. Tapyam Pada will contest from Pasighat West while Karo Tayenk will be fielded from Mebo. 

In 2019, the Janata Dal (United) won seven seats while the National People’s Party (NPP) secured five. At present, the state has been going through a geographical war of words. The Chinese military had claimed Arunachal Pradesh, saying that the region is an inherent part of China. The Chinese Defence Ministry spokesman Senior Colonel Zhang Xiaogang had said that the country never acknowledged the Arunachal Pradesh region established by India. China claims Arunachal Pradesh as South Tibet and opposes the Indian state leader”s visit to the region.