[ Pisi Zauing ]
MIAO, 2 Mar: As the date for the parliamentary and state assembly elections draws near, the political parties in eastern Arunachal are experimenting with everything within the parameters of their reach to keep their flock of leaders intact, and measuring different tactics to woo the electorates.
The BJP is confident that it will sweep the Lok Sabha polls for the third consecutive term. The INDIA bloc, on the other hand, claims that the voters are fed up with the present dispensation and will certainly vote the BJP out of power.
Seven states are set to hold assembly polls in 2024, out of which Arunachal, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and Sikkim will hold elections simultaneously with the Lok Sabha polls.
With the recent switching of allegiance by senior Congress MLAs to the BJP family, the buzz clearly hints at victory for the saffron party in Arunachal.
To ensure victory in the two Lok Sabha seats, as well as the 60 state assembly seats in Arunachal, the BJP high command has sent Assam’s UD Minister Ashok Singhal as the state’s election in-charge.
Singhal was on a weeklong visit to the eastern parliamentary constituency, covering around nine districts, and interacted with party workers in different locations in Namsai, Lohit, Dibang Valley, Anjaw, Tirap, Changlang, and Longding districts.
On 27 February, Singhal visited Miao in Changlang district, where he addressed a huge assembly of BJP workers. The meeting was attended also by Deputy Chief Minister Chowna Mein, Deputy Speaker Tesam Pongte, UD Minister Kamlung Mossang, state BJP vice president Junty Singpho, Namsai MLA Zingnu Namchoom, district presidents Tupkam Kitnya [Changlang], Suhana Namchoom [Namsai], MLA Phosum Khimhun [Changlang South], MLA Laisam Simai [Jairampur], Miao mandal president Pisi Suriya Singpho, PRI leaders, and BJP workers, among others.
Singhal emphasised the need to strengthen the party from the grassroots to the state level. He instructed the sitting MLAs, party functionaries and grassroots workers to “visit every nook and corner of your respective assembly constituencies and amass the facts about the prevailing predicaments experienced by electorates.”
Singhal also instructed the party leaders to apprise him of the success rate of all implemented and ongoing state and central government schemes.
“At any cost the BJP candidates must retain both the Lok Sabha and win all 60 state assembly seats in the upcoming simultaneous elections,” he said.
