Days after senior Congress leaders Ninong Ering and Wanglin Lowangdong, the two sitting MLAs, joined the BJP, yet another Congress stalwart and Mebo MLA Lombo Tayeng joined the BJP on Monday. Tayeng was also the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader in the state assembly. Only Sagalee MLA Nabam Tuki now remains in the Congress. These joining just ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the state seem to have been timed to send a message to the voters that the saffron party is winning in Arunachal Pradesh.
This is also a kind of humiliation to the Congress that its CLP leader has left the party to join the BJP. This trend is being followed across India now. Many senior leaders are leaving the Congress to join the BJP ahead of the general elections. Arunachal is becoming an opposition-free state. This does not augur well for democracy. Also, it raises a serious question mark over the ideological commitment of Congress leaders. Today, many of its leaders are joining the BJP after being with a party for so many years. The time has come for the party to groom new leaders in Arunachal as well as across India who are committed to the party ideology.