E-Paper
How Tuki planned return of Cong rebels
ITANAGAR: The return of rebels to the Congress in Arunachal Pradesh on Saturday to diffuse a political crisis was a bolt from the blue for many, including the BJP.
ITANAGAR: The return of rebels to the Congress in Arunachal Pradesh on Saturday to diffuse a political crisis was a bolt from the blue for many, including the BJP. But former chief minister Nabam Tuki had it planned over two months.
The rebels, led by former CM Kalikho Pul, had formed the People’s Party of Arunachal ( PPA) government that the Supreme Court virtually derecognised by turning the state’s political clock to what it showed on December 15 last year. Tuki was heading the Congress government then.
“It did not happen in a day, as you might be inclined to think. I was in touch with the rebels for two months, telling them how the case in the Supreme Court would pan out. And since the problem of some of them was with my leadership, I promised to step down to ensure the Congress government remains,” Tuki said.
Tuki blamed BJP president Amit Shah and Union minister of state for home Kiren Rijiju for the crisis.
“They herded the rebels in a five-star hotel in Guwahati and thought they had things in control. But I managed to convince 21 of the 30 rebels to come home to Congress the night before the floor test was scheduled (Saturday).”
The remaining rebels, including Pul, joined the party on Saturday. And the rest, as they say, is history.
“The BJP did not get wind of what was happening. It was taken by surprise. But I have an advice for the party that wants to rid India of Congress: read the Constitution thoroughly before you start needling the Congress-ruled states. The BJP was non-existent when the Constitution was written, so it is yet to learn how to go by it,” Tuki said.
But Tuki said he has nothing against Pul. “He did not say anything. But I told him you are my younger brother and we don’t have any permanent enmity. Politics is like this: there cannot be permanent enemies but there can be permanent friends.”
