Arunachal CM Tuki accuses governor of using Raj Bhavan as BJP office
Arunachal Pradesh chief minister Nabam Tuki has accused the state’s governor JP Rajkhowa of misusing the Raj Bhavan as an office of the BJP towards dislodging his Congress government.
Arunachal Pradesh chief minister Nabam Tuki has accused the state’s governor JP Rajkhowa of misusing the Raj Bhavan as an office of the BJP towards dislodging his Congress government.
Tuki is the second northeast CM after Assam’s Tarun Gogoi to turn against the governor. Gogoi had made similar accusations against Nagaland governor PB Acharya, who holds additional charge of Assam.
While Acharya flaunts his RSS background, IAS officer Rajkhowa was Assam’s chief secretary and is believed to be close to BJP.
Tuki’s allegations come in the backdrop of growing dissidence in the ruling party with several Congress legislators publicly acknowledging their desire to align with the BJP, which has 11 MLAs in the 60-member assembly.
In a letter to Rajkhowa on Tuesday, Tuki resented Raj Bhavan’s alleged interference in the affairs of his government.
“The present situation has caught the attention of the common citizens of the state and the perception is that a parallel government is being run by the Raj Bhavan,” he said.
Raj Bhavan’s activities, Tuki added, was aimed at him and the assembly speaker for engineering a defection from the Congress legislature party to the BJP.
“It is an open secret, evident from the course of events that the high constitutional office of the governor is being misused by the state BJP and affiliated organisations as BJP headquarters – to prepare strategies and conspiracies towards dislodging the democratically-elected government in the state,” the CM said.
Tuki urged Rajkhowa to uphold the dignity of the position of Arunachal Pradesh governor and desist from actions that create “doubt and suspicion in the minds of the people”.
Arunachal Pradesh – the largest state in the northeast -- is one of the most politically fickle states in the region with a history of overnight government changes.
In 2003, the BJP had briefly assumed power in the state – a first for the party in the northeast – after former Congress chief minister Gegong Apang had switched over to the saffron brigade along with his supporting MLAs.
After assuming power at the Centre last year, the BJP is pushing hard towards winning the northeast states, starting with Assam where assembly elections are due early next year.
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