GUWAHATI: The BJP on Wednesday announced the names of its all 60 candidates for Assembly elections in Arunachal Pradesh.
Assembly and Lok Sabha elections are being held simultaneously in this frontier state. The BJP list has 16 new faces and four women.
Chief Minister Pema Khandu will contest from his pet Mukto seat while his deputy Chowna Mein will vie from Chowkham. Two other notable candidates are Assembly speaker Pasang Dorjee Sona and state BJP chief Biyuram Wahge.
The BJP, which rules the state, denied ticket to three ministers and seven MLAs, including a rape-accused. Ministers not considered for ticket are Bamang Felix, Tage Taki and Tumke Bagra.
The MLAs who missed the bus are Tsering Tashi, Jummun Ete Deori, Laisam Simai, Lokam Tassar, Kento Rina, Goruk Pordung and Gum Tayeng. Tassar was accused of raping a pregnant woman in 2022.
The BJP’s list of candidates featured 11 MLAs who had won the 2019 elections on the tickets of other parties. Six of them are from Janata Dal (United), three from Congress and one each from Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma’s National People’s Party (NPP) and People’s Party of Arunachal (PPA).
These candidates include former Union Minister Ninong Ering, Mutchu Mithi, Dongru Siongju and Techi Kaso.
The BJP fielded four women – Chakat Aboh, Tsering Lhamu, Nyabi Jini Dirchi and Dasanglu Pul.
Tirong Aboh – husband of Chakat – was gunned down by the militants two days before the results of last election were declared. He had won the Khonsa West seat posthumously.
Chakat had won the by-election to the seat as an independent candidate after being backed by all parties and later, joined the BJP.
Gum Tayeng is the only woman MLA denied ticket. She had won the 2019 elections from Dambuk as a BJP candidate. The party fielded Puinnyo Apum in the seat.
In 2019, the BJP bagged 41 seats, followed by JD-U seven, NPP five, Congress four and PPA one. Two seats went to independent candidates.
