GUWAHATI: former Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Kalikho Pul on Wednesday tried to put up a brave face, claiming that there was no threat to his People’s Party of Arunachal (PPA) government as it had the numbers.
“In a democracy, it’s all about numbers and I have the numbers. Even if the Congress government is restored, there has to be a floor test. They have 15 MLAs and we have 43. So I don’t think there is any threat to my government,” Pul told reporters on the sidelines of a meeting of newly-floated North East Democratic Alliance (NEDA) in Guwahati, which was attended, among others, by BJP president Amit Shah.
Pul was perhaps expecting a verdict against him. So, when he came to Guwahati to attend the NEDA meeting, he came along with all his PPA MLAs, apparently to keep his flocks together.
“The Supreme Court verdict is based on the decisions (of the Assembly) taken on December 15-16 last year. But the government that we formed was not based on the decisions of the two-day Assembly session because we knew some wrong could be committed,” Pul said, adding that he would file a review petition in the apex court.
A euphoric Nabam Tuki dubbed the apex court’s judgement as “historic”, before taking over as the Chief Minister at Arunachal Bhavan in New Delhi. Asked about his return to the hot seat, he told Express, “What is important is that democracy has won.The SC has now brought things back to where they were. All the 47 Congress MLAs are with the Congress again. I will speak to those who left us.”
However, reclaiming his lost chair will not be easy for Tuki as the Congress with 15 legislators in a House of 60, which now has a strength of 58 following the resignation of two MLAs, is in a minority.
Said senior advocate Nekibur Zaman, “Through its judgment, the SC is correcting the procedural lapses and bringing the system in order. Tuki will assume charge as CM but there will also be a floor test where he has to prove his majority.”
Given his proximity to the BJP, which was blamed for the months-long political crisis in the frontier state, Pul could merge the PPA with the saffron party.