BJP's Tapir Gao Seeks Third Term In Arunachal East Constituency (Image: Facebook/Tapir Gao)

With Lok Sabha elections just weeks away, the BJP has recently announced the name of party leader Tapir Gao as its candidate from the Arunachal East constituency. There are two Lok Sabha seats in Arunachal Pradesh. Kiren Rijiju, who is currently serving as the Union Minister of Earth Sciences, will be contesting from the Arunachal West constituency.

Tapir Gao is currently serving as the state BJP chief and is a two-term MP from the Arunachal East parliamentary constituency. Tapir Gao also served as General Secretary of the Bharatiya Janata Party in 2011. The BJP leader had first marked victory from Arunachal East as the party candidate in 2004. It was a significant victory for the BJP, as Tapir Gao won the constituency by a margin of 44,994 votes. Until 2004, the constituency was considered a Congress stronghold.

However, in the 2009 Lok Sabha polls, the BJP leader lost to Ninong Ering, a former Union Minister from the Congress party. While Ninong Ering won the seat by securing 1,15,423 votes, Tapir Gao managed to get only 46,974 votes. Tapir Gao faced defeat in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections too. Ninong Ering retained the Arunachal East seat by defeating Tapir Gao with a margin of 12,478 votes.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the BJP made a comeback in the Arunachal East as Tapir Gao won the seat with a margin of 69,948 votes. The BJP leader was reportedly detained at Guwahati Airport in 2017 for carrying a huge amount of cash. However, Tapir Gao and his party denied the reports and termed those reports as politically motivated. By announcing Tapir Gao as candidate in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, the BJP is aiming to consolidate its existing strongholds.