Dainik Nation News Portal
The BJP in Arunachal Pradesh and the Sikkim Krantikari Morcha (SKM) in Sikkim have secured resounding victories in the assembly elections held on April 19, as per elections results declared on Sunday.
In Arunachal Pradesh, the BJP won 46 out of 60 seats, solidifying Chief Minister Pema Khandu’s position for another term. Khandu, who has been in power since 2016, attributed the victory to the development initiatives undertaken by the BJP governments at both the Centre and state levels.
“This is a historic win for the BJP in Arunachal Pradesh. In 2014, we bagged 41 seats and this time we secured 46. I thank the people of the state for this win. The development work done in the state in the past 10 years under PM Modi’s government at Centre played a big role in the win,” Khandu told journalists in Itanagar.
The National People’s Party (NPP) secured five seats, followed by the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) with three, the Peoples’ Party of Arunachal (PPA) with two, Congress with one, and three seats won by independents.
Hours after the poll results were announced, Khandu met Governor Lt General KT Parnaik (Retd) at Raj Bhavan on Sunday evening to tender his resignation along with the council of ministers. The Governor accepted the resignations and requested Khandu and the cabinet to continue in office until the new government is sworn in.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated the people of Arunachal Pradesh for giving an “unequivocal mandate to politics of development.”
The BJP’s victory was anticipated as the party had already bagged 10 seats unopposed and was the only party to field candidates in all 60 seats. The Congress, which was the dominant party until nearly a decade ago, fielded candidates in only 19 seats.
“In Arunachal Pradesh voters prefer to favor the party in power, and the results were a continuation of that trend. We named 34 candidates for this election, but only 19 remained in the fray. Others withdrew from the contest due to the influence of money-power,” said former Chief Minister and state Congress president, Nabam Tuki.
The swearing-in ceremony for the next chief minister and his cabinet is expected to take place after June 6, following the results of the Lok Sabha polls, according to BJP state spokesperson Techi Necha.
In Sikkim, the SKM won 31 out of the 32 seats that went to the polls, while the opposition Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF) managed to secure only one seat. Former Chief Minister Pawan Chamling, who held the post for a record 25 years from 1994 to 2019, lost both the seats he contested.
SDF’s Tenzing Norbu Lamtha emerged as the party’s sole winner, securing the Shyari seat in east Sikkim. Lamtha was formerly an SKM leader but switched sides after Kunga Nima Lepcha, a minister, was fielded from Shyari by the ruling party.
The Election Commission had advanced the counting of votes for the assembly elections in Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim by two days, as the tenure of the two assemblies was set to expire on June 2.
Arunachal Pradesh saw a voter turnout of 82.95% on April 19, while Sikkim recorded a turnout of 79.77%. Counting of votes for the two Lok Sabha seats in Arunachal Pradesh and one seat in Sikkim will take place on June 4 along with the rest of the country.
