[ Amar Sangno ]
ITANAGAR, 17 Apr: The remote 33-Mechukha assembly constituency in Shi-Yomi district has become a legacy battleground for incumbent MLA and 7th Legislative Assembly Speaker Pasang Dorjee Sona, contesting on a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ticket, and his opponent, young contestant Aju Chije,who is contesting from the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).
Sona is the son of former legislator late Pasang Wangchuk Sona, and Aju Chije is the third son of late Tadik Chije. Their late fathers too had fought electoral battles to be the people’s representative from the constituency. Now the successors are taking on each other in the legacy battle.
The Chije scion is one of the poorest among the candidates for the assembly election, according to his affidavit filed with the Election Commission. He is taking on three-time MLA and Speaker Sona, who is considered the closest aide of Chief Minister Pema Khandu. For young Chije, defeating Sona would be a David versus Goliath battle.
In an interview with digital portal NewsFY, Chije said that his decision to contest was in response to “the people’s call to bring progress and changes in Shi-Yomi district.”
“It’s a people’s call; that’s why I am on the ground. I don’t believe in stereotyping of young age in politics,” he said, on being asked about his age.
“Money culture is endemic in my constituency. Because of money culture, the constituency is backward. I appeal to young voters not to be tempted by money. We cannot entirely blame it on the voters, because elected leaders are also responsible.”
Chije further said that, if he gets elected, he would focus on building infrastructures for schools and teachers, and create an atmosphere conducive to education, and also create better healthcare facilities in the district.
“The lone higher secondary school of Shi-Yomi district, which was established in 1953, has no science and commerce stream. Economically backward students opting for the subjects have to go to Aalo in West Siang district,” he said.
Chije claimed that, “other than the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan and the Jal Jeevan Mission or ‘Har Ghar Nal’, no centrally-sponsored scheme has been successful in Shi-Yomi district.”
Over the last 15 years, the Mechukha assembly constituency has remained a tightly-fought battleground for any candidate who has stepped into the fray.
Incumbent MLA Sona got elected three times, out of which the last two terms were close and tightly-fought battles. In 2014, Sona won with a narrow margin of 46 votes against INC candidate Tori Ragyor. Sona again defeated Ragyor in 2019 with 68 votes.
Sona, an alumnus of Hindu College of Delhi University, is one of the most articulated and well-informed legislators in the 7th legislative assembly of Arunachal Pradesh.
After graduating from Hindu College in political science, he earned his LLB degree from the prestigious Campus Law Centre, University of Delhi. He joined the Bar Association in 1998, and was practicing law till 2006, before choosing politics.
He was first elected from Mechukha assembly constituency in 2009.
On 14 January, 2021, Sona was elected as the chairman of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA), India Region, Zone-III. On completion of his tenure, he was reelected as chairman of the CPA, Indian Region, Zone-III on 11May, 2022 for another two years.
Over the years, he has held several important positions in the government of Arunachal Pradesh.
During his tenure as the legislative assembly speaker, the ambitious national e-Vidhan application (NeVA) project was successfully implemented, which turned the state assembly completely paperless, thereby making the Arunachal legislative assembly the first in the Northeast and the third in the country to go paperless.
Sona said that he believes in healthy politics. “I always advocate development politics. Those who don’t have merits, they resort to communal, clan, tribes, and religious politics. Votes should be sought based on merits,” he said.
“In Arunachal, people take politics so seriously that brothers are against one another. We should insteadplay healthy politics,” he said.
