First Victory Of 2024 Goes To BJP: Party Wins 10 Arunachal Assembly Seats Unopposed

New Delhi: In a big boost for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), 10 of its MLAs candidates for the Arunachal Pradesh Assembly Polls were declared unopposed winners days ahead of the voting. These 10 BJP candidates including Arunachal Chief Minister Pema Khandu and Deputy CM Chowna Mein. This comes as a setback for the Congress as the party could not field candidates on these seats.

Union Minister Kiren Rijiju took on X to announce the victory of BJP candidates on 10 assembly seats in Arunachal Pradesh and said PM Modi's wave is taking over every part of the country.  10 MLA Candidates of BJP are declared- elected unopposed. I extend congratulations to all 10 BJP MLA-Elects. PM Narendra Modi ji’s wave is blowing from North-East to every part of India," wrote Rijiju on X.

A rocking start for @BJP4India from the "Land of Rising Sun"- Arunachal Pradesh. 10 MLA Candidates of BJP are declared- elected unopposed. I extend congratulations to all 10 BJP MLA-Elects. PM @narendramodi ji’s wave is blowing from North-East to every part of India. pic.twitter.com/w3n9hVJQiH — Kiren Rijiju (मोदी का परिवार) (@KirenRijiju) March 30, 2024

Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Pawan Kumar Sain told reporters that Arunachal CM and the other 9 BJP candidates were elected unopposed following the closure of the nomination withdrawal period, here.

According to CEO Sain, only Arunachal CM Khandu filed the nomination for assembly polls from the Mukto seat in Tawang district and Dy CM Chowna Mein won the Chowkham seat unopposed after his lone rival Bayamso Kri of the Congress withdrew his nomination.

“Single nomination paper has been filed in six assembly constituencies while in four others, opposition candidates withdrew their papers,” he said.

Khandu's Fourth Term As MLA

This will be Khandu's fourth term as an MLA from the Mukto assembly constituency near the India-China border. He was elected unopposed from the seat in a by-election in 2010 as a Congress nominee, following the demise of his father and former chief minister Dorjee Khandu in a helicopter crash. The chief minister also won the seat in the 2014 and 2019 assembly elections by huge margins.

The deputy chief minister was elected from the Chowkham constituency for the second time. Mein, a seasoned politician, had previously represented the Lekang constituency since 1995.

The other candidates, who were elected unopposed, are Jikke Tako from the Tali assembly constituency, Nyato Dukom from Taliha, Mutchu Mithi from Roing, Dasanglu Pul from Hayuliang, Dongru Siongju for Bomdila and first-timers Ratu Techi from Sagalee and Hage Appa from Ziro-Hapoli constituencies.

BJP nominee Techi Kaso won the Itanagar constituency unopposed after National People’s Party (NPP) candidate Tai Tadap’s nomination was found invalid.

Arunachal Pradesh Assembly Polls 2024

Arunachal Pradesh is set to go for election Elections for the 60-member assembly and two Lok Sabha seats Arunachal West and Arunachal East on April 19.  The counting of votes for the assembly polls will take place on June 2, while the Lok Sabha election results will be declared on June 4.

In the 2019 assembly polls, three BJP nominees -- Education Minister Taba Tedir from Yachuli constituency, Kento Jini from Aalo East and Phurpa Tsering from Dirang -- were elected unopposed. They are seeking re-election from their respective constituencies this time.

Eight candidates will contest the Arunachal West Lok Sabha constituency from where Union Earth Sciences Minister Kiren Rijiju and Arunachal Pradesh Congress Committee president Nabam Tuki are in the fray.

The total number of candidates, contesting in the Arunachal East parliamentary constituency, is six after the nomination of Techi Rana, an independent candidate, was found invalid during scrutiny on Thursday, the official said.