{"id":61766,"date":"2019-03-07T01:36:41","date_gmt":"2019-03-06T20:06:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/?p=61766"},"modified":"2019-03-07T01:36:41","modified_gmt":"2019-03-06T20:06:41","slug":"tougher-than-it-looks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/2019\/03\/07\/tougher-than-it-looks\/","title":{"rendered":"Tougher than it looks"},"content":{"rendered":"

Arunachal 2019 Elections<\/strong><\/h3>\n

[ Nani Bath ]<\/strong><\/p>\n

What she calls as an \u2018orientation\u2019, Jarjum Ete, a social activist and a probable Congress MP candidate (Arunachal-West), is out to find out the pulse of the people. She gives out an explicit indication that her intention to contest is \u201cnot about herself\u201d but is about \u201cpeople exercising choices\u201d.
\nShe was highly confident that her representation in the parliament, besides giving an opportunity to the Congress, would be marked by some good works for the state and its people. She has a good reason to be confident. A supporter says, \u201cWhen she could fight for political empowerment of women, overcoming traditional resistance, even when she was not in any official position, she would definitely do better from the position of authority\u201d.
\nJames Wanglat Lowangcha, a veteran politician, resigned from the BJP \u201c…..since the party insist on introduction of CAB if they come back to power\u201d. \u201cThis is a very sinister agenda\u201d, he reiterates, adding that \u201cThey want to remove Articles 371 (A), 370, 1945 Regulation and ILP\u201d.
\nThe catchword in our communication was \u201cIf INC nominates me for Arunachal East, I will\u201d.
\nA young and spirited leader, Mongol Yomso, representing Republican Party of India, seems to be having a unique and revolutionary idea for the development of Arunachal Pradesh-divide the state into two parts (East and West). Such division would ensure more economic packages and bring administration to the doorstep of the people. Mongol hopes to represent Arunachal East in the parliament.
\nSotai Kri, one of the advisers to the chief minister, was a BJP nominee twice (1996 and 1998) in Arunachal East. He said that he has already applied for party (BJP) ticket for the coming elections. I got an indication that he might be contesting even if he did not get BJP nomination.
\nIt\u2019s a matter of time that the names of Kiren Rijiju and Tapir Gao are formally announced as BJP nominees for Arunachal West and Arunachal East parliamentary constituency respectively.
\nThe nomination of Jarjum Ete, as the Congress candidate from Arunachal West, should be through, but for \u2018politics\u2019. Two more names are coming up- Nabam Tuki, former chief minister and Khyoda Apik, president, Arunachal Christian Forum. Some sources say that Nabam Tuki\u2019s name has the approval of Sanjoy-Pario duo. Takam Sanjoy is the president of Arunachal Pradesh Congress Committee and his younger brother, Takam Pario, the leader of Congress Legislature party.
\nIt makes huge political sense for elder-younger duo to vouch for the candidature of Nabam Tuki. Tuki still remains a potential challenge to their leadership within the State Congress Committee. He may stand on the way of either of the brothers taking up leadership at the government level, if Congress comes to the power, post 2019.
\nJarjum Ete has created a \u2018constituency\u2019 for herself in the minds of youths, particularly among girls and ladies. She is seen as a symbol of women empowerment in the midst of traditional ethos and practices marked by patriarchal mindset. She seems to be making her political choices independent of family or social considerations, \u2018breaking traditional barrier\u2019.<\/p>\n

One of the most respected historians of India, Ramachandra Guha, writing about Jarjum Ete says, she is \u201cintelligent and articulate, rooted in her state yet well informed about the wider world\u201d. Guha adds, \u201cShe could make a splendid minister in the Union cabinet\u201d.
\nAs she enters into the political domain, there are criticisms as well. Her contemporaries would say that \u201cshe is dominating\u201d and \u201cover-exposed\u201d. Because of her over-exposure \u201cshe remains not rooted to the ground\u201d.
\nOn many occasions she is found to be tweeting against the policies of the prime minister Narendra Modi and RSS. But she was unable to pick up a particular issue on a serious note because of which she could not generate a kind of wave like \u2018Modi wave\u2019 or \u2018Kiren wave\u2019.
\nHer political opponents (within the party) proudly claim that \u201cJarjum was never a Congress lady\u201d, as she has \u201cnever voted for Congress candidates, either in Assembly or Lok Sabha elections\u201d. Such claims hold ground because Jarjum herself was a claimant for Congress nomination in the last two or three elections.
\nShe also faces a \u2018challenge inside\u2019. Most of her close relatives are in BJP and are aspiring to be the party candidates in the upcoming elections. Her elder brother, Jarkar Gamlin, is a cabinet minister; Jarpum Gamlin, her younger brother, a BJP state General Secretary, is seeking BJP nomination (27-Liromoba AC); her mother\u2019s brother\u2019s daughter, Kenyir Ringu, State BJP Vice-president, is a potential candidate (36-Nari-Koyu AC); Topin Ete, her mother\u2019s brother\u2019s grandson (son of Kento Ete, former minister), is seeking BJP ticket (30-Along AC); Topin is married to a sister of Komjum Riba (additional private secretary to MoS Home, Kiren Rijiju), who has declared his candidature from 29-Basar AC. Wife of Jarpum Gamlin, is a close cousin of Topin Ete.
\nMy own research has identified kinship as a major factor in shaping voting behaviour of any tribal voters. In an advanced society it may be possible to create divergent political spaces within a family, but such possibilities are very unlikely in a tribal society where reciprocity remain its foundation.
\nKiren Rijiju, MoS Home, though has become a face of India\u2019s North East, is facing tremendous anti-incumbency sentiment. \u201cAnti-incumbency is all-pervasive\u201d, an angry voter says. Another voter joins, \u201cHe comes in a helicopter and goes away\u201d. \u201cWe voted for him by seeing his handsome photograph, and this time around we are not going to vote by seeing handsome photo and false promises\u201d.
\nHis promise to construct roads to all villages before 2019 remains hollow. Tak-Soi, a pride issue of the Galos is yet to be \u2018conquered\u2019. The road from Jirdo to Darii could not be completed, as promised.
\nArunachal Indigenous Tribes Forum (AITF) accused Kiren of his complicity in Trans Arunachal Highway imbroglio. AITF is a platform for all community based organisations in the state. Incidentally, its chairman, Bengia Tolum, is the president of Nyishi Elite Society.
\nMany argue that Tapir Gao, does not have any \u2018political constituency\u2019 of its own, except that he is the president of the party in power. He goes out campaigning along with the chief minister and other ministers in programmes like Sarkar Aaap ka Dwar.
\nMongol Yomso belongs to the community to which Tapir Gao belongs. Whether Mongol wins the election or not but he will definitely upset Tapir\u2019s calculation by cutting the share of his votes.
\nIt is known from a source that Tapir had the \u2018blessings\u2019 of Gegong Apang, who has resigned from BJP and joined JD(S). Gegong\u2019s departure from the BJP has thrown a big challenge for him since Gegong has sizeable supporters in Tuting-Yingkiong and Pasighat West ACs.
\nIt makes sound political sense to assume that the induction of Alo Libang (MLA Tuting-Yingkiong) in the cabinet of Pema Khandu was a part of a \u2018game\u2019 to put a break on political ascendancy of Gegong Apang. Alo Libang was inducted at the cost of senior BJP leaders like Tage Taki, Kaling Moyong and Kento Rina.
\nAs widely known in the political circle, there are multiple camps within the state BJP unit- Tapir camp, Kiren camp, Pema camp and Chowna camp. Either they run their camps independently or in \u2018collaboration\u2019- \u2018Tapir-Chowna\u2019 and \u2018Pema-Kiren\u2019. Kumar Waii may also be having his own group. There is another group- \u2018Super-11\u2019, those MLAs who were elected on BJP tickets in 2014 elections.
\nTapir Gao and Kiren Rijiju remain challenge, even threat, to each other. Both of them are vying to be included in the \u2018Team Modi\u2019. Himanta Biswa Sarma\u2019s intention to enter parliament has further minimized the space within Modi\u2019s Council of Ministers.
\nSince Tapir and Kiren may have to checkmate each other for their space in Lutyens\u2019 Delhi, none would hesitate to use resources in their command against the other. Supporting \u2018enemy\u2019 candidates is one of the possibilities.
\nAfter joining BJP, Tapir Gao did not leave the party. But he has his roots in the Congress, having had stint in NSUI, Youth Congress and APCC. \u201cSo\u201d, a Congress leader says, \u201cCongress ideology still runs deep in Tapir\u2019s blood\u201d. His being in the BJP is only \u201chalf-hearted, and for power\u201d, he adds.
\nThis statement has some credentials. The state BJP president had commissioned a book on the history of the party in Arunachal Pradesh, Kamal in the Himalayas. However, no signal was given for its publication once the Congress won the elections in Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh.
\nKiren Rijiju joined Congress in 2009 after he was defeated by Takam Sanjoy. Kiren was quoted as saying, after his departure from BJP, \u201cI would say the BJP\u2019s Hindutva campaign had a very negative impact in the northeast, a region with a dominant minority population\u201d. Rijiju told IANS, \u201cI realised that the Congress party was the best option to work for the development of the northeast\u201d.
\nThe BJP and RSS appear to have closed the chapter on Kiren\u2019s past mistakes, although the then BJP\u2019s general secretary (in charge of Northeast), had used some harsh words, \u201cHe betrayed the very party that gave him a solid platform to launch his political career\u201d.
\nMy interactions with dozens of students of Rajiv Gandhi University have given me to comprehend that Kiren still has a place in their \u2018political calculation\u2019. A PG student remarks, \u201cI don\u2019t know about Tapir Gao but the defeat of Kiren would be a colossal loss for the state and the region\u201d. This may be because Kiren is most likely to be inducted into the Union Cabinet, should the BJP gets majority.
\nSince MLA candidates would not encourage cross voting, the youths in the age group of 18-29, close to 40 per cent of the total electorates, may have decisive say in the electoral outcome in the coming parliamentary elections. Citizenship Amendment Bill, 2016 (CAB) and Permanent Residential Certificate (PRC) issues will have some influence on their electoral choices.
\nA big question in everyone\u2019s mind is, \u201cHow much will the BJP score out of sixty?\u201d A political observer believes that \u201cit all depends on Pema Khandu\u201d, the chief minister. In order to keep enough space for himself and for his future political manoeuvres, he may limit the score to just 31. BJP may like to have its \u2018own\u2019 chief minister if the party comes to the power with absolute majority. Pema knows it well.
\nMany of the senior BJP leaders look not to be happy with Pema Khandu for his move to provide tacit support to his \u2018Gang of 15\u2019, consisting mostly of young leaders. The state BJP president is believed to have promised party ticket to more than 120 aspirants. I only wish that the recent spate of violence and destruction is not the manifestation of accumulated anger directed against the establishments. Let\u2019s hope that the incident is not an indication of violent nature of May 2019 elections.
\nWanglat Lowangcha\u2019s statement, \u201cIf some candidates live with the notion that elections are easy, I wish him luck\u201d, brilliantly summarises my article. (The author is Professor of Political Science, Rajiv Gandhi University, Rono Hills. He can be contacted at nanibath@rediffmail.com)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Arunachal 2019 Elections [ Nani Bath ] What she calls as an \u2018orientation\u2019, Jarjum Ete, a social activist and a probable Congress MP candidate (Arunachal-West), is out to find out the pulse of the people. She gives out an explicit indication that her intention to contest is \u201cnot about herself\u201d but is about \u201cpeople exercising […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-61766","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-state-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61766","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=61766"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61766\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=61766"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=61766"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=61766"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}