india

Updated: Apr 09, 2019 18:13 IST

The Congress in Arunachal Pradesh on Sunday claimed that some leaders from the ruling BJP are expected to switch sides after the latter announced its list of 54 candidates for the forthcoming polls for the 60 member Legislative Assembly on April 11.

“Some BJP MLAs are expected to join the Congress,” said Takam Sanjoy, who heads the state unit of the Congress in the state. In 2014, the state elected a Congress government till the MLAs switched sides finally ending up with the BJP with Pema Khandu as the Chief Minister.

At least six names of the sitting MLAs were missing from the BJP’s list even as candidates for six more constituencies are yet to be decided.

Kumar Waii, the home minister of the state is among those whose name is missing from the list. “I just saw that they have announced another candidate. I had differences with Chief Minister Pema Khandu,” he said adding he would go to the people before deciding his next course of action.

Also read: Violence over PRC could pose an obstacle for BJP to retain power in Arunachal

Differences came to fore during the recent protests over the permanent resident certificates to non-Arunachal Pradesh Scheduled Tribe communities which led to violence in the state including in capital Itanagar as three protestors died allegedly in police firing.

Waii said he had not ordered the firing.

According to the BJP’s list, chief minister Pema Khandu will contest from the Mukto constituency which elected him unopposed in 2014 and in the by-election after his father Dorjee Khandu’s death in 2011.

Deputy Chief Minister Chowna Mein who contested and won from two seats will be the BJPs’ candidate from Chowkham, according to the list. The name of the candidate for Lekang, the second seat that Chowna Mein hd contested has not been announced yet. The constituency has a sizeable population of non-APST communities demanding PRC.