[ Bengia Ajum ]
Elections in Arunachal Pradesh in 2024 are witnessing something new. Well, as usual, the state is witnessing a massive flow of cash, especially in certain districts, and there is a festive mood with the cash flow. Also, the trend of people getting elected without contest, which is not healthy for democracy, is still happening. This time 10 ruling BJP MLAs got elected without contest.
But for the first time, something new is happening, which is worth discussing.
First is the decision of the Arunachal Christian Forum (ACF) to openly advocate voting for the INDIA alliance and against the ruling NDA. The ACF is a well-respected religious organisation in the state. In the past, its leaders like Toko Teki have conducted themselves gracefully and always kept the ACF away from the hurly-burly of politics. However, this time the ACF has decided to actively participate in politics and that too very openly.
Being part of the democratic system, it has every right to indulge in political activities, but for peace and tranquillity of the state, it could have avoided venturing into politics.
When the ACF convened a press briefing to announce its decision to urge voters to vote for the INDIA alliance, it surprised many in the state. The majority of Christians in the state do not necessarily agree with the decision to suddenly become political. Many have taken to social media to express their disagreement, which gives hope that people will still vote based on development agenda and not on religious lines. One of the most important aspects of the Arunachal society is that people vote based on their likes and dislikes for leaders and development agendas. The religions of the candidates do not matter much. Religious organisations usually confine themselves to religious activities and avoid talking about politics. This attempt to polarise elections on a religious basis is unfortunate. Hope the ACF will do course correction in the days to come. The mixing of religion and politics is a potential catastrophe for a state like Arunachal, where people are not used to religious-based politics.
Another new thing that has been seen for the first time is the decision of the BJP to drop three sitting cabinet ministers, namely, Home Minister Bamang Felix, Agriculture Minister Tage Taki, and Industries Minister Tumke Bagra.
Usually, it is seen that whenever such decisions are made, the leaders tend to rebel and fight elections from other parties. But this time all three ministers who have been dropped seem to have accepted the decision of the party and are not contesting. Initially, it looked like Bagra would rebel after he announced that he would contest as an MP from the Arunachal Democratic Party, but he did not file a nomination and backed off from his decision to contest. On the other hand, Felix has been made the campaign chairman of the BJP for the Arunachal West parliamentary constituency.
Seasoned election watchers were expecting these candidates to rebel and stand for the election. But they have toed the party line and are not contesting, which has surprised many.
