The Congress on Thursday struggled to gather its splinter units in Arunachal Pradesh, and the BJP declared it did not have the majority, even as a gubernatorial order fixed Saturday, July 16, as the date for newly-reinstated Chief Minister Nabam Tuki to prove his majority on the floor of the Assembly.
“In obedience of the Supreme Court judgement dated 13th July 2016, the Governor of Arunachal Pradesh Tathagata Roy has informed Nabam Tuki that he stands reinstated as the Chief Minister of the State on and with effect from that date,” said a statement issued from the Raj Bhavan in Itanagar.
“The Governor has also asked the Chief Minister to call the State Legislative Assembly to session immediately and to prove his majority in the house no later than 16th July 2016 (Saturday),” the statement added.
The Governor further said the proceedings of the Legislative Assembly should be videographed and the majority proved by Division and not by Voice Vote. A note to this effect had also been sent to the Secretary of the Legislative Assembly.
The Congress, it seemed, was working on a plan to wean away its 29 rebels from the People’s Party of Arunachal (PPA), whose leader Kalikho Pul had assumed power with the support of 11 MLAs of the BJP after Nabam Tuki’s ouster. The PPA already had five MLAs. Combined with 11 MLAs of the BJP and 29 Congress rebels, the strength of the Opposition is 45 in the 60-member House. The current strength of the House is 58, owing to two vacancies.
Pul, under the circumstances, has the numbers on his side. He has also declared that he will move a review petition against the Supreme Court order which invalidated his election as Chief Minister.
Will Tuki be replaced? The Congress clearly does not have the numbers. However, the indication from the party leadership was that a majority of the rebels did not have an issue with the Congress as much as they were rebelling against Tuki’s leadership. There is a possibility of Tuki being replaced with another leader in case that wins over the rebels, said sources.
Immediately after the apex court verdict, senior leader Kapil Sibal had appealed to the rebels to come back to the party’s fold. “We are all part of one family,” Sibal had said.
The BJP, on the other hand, was confident that the Congress will not be able to win the floor test on Saturday. “They (Congress) are claiming a government will be formed but there is no confidence in their utterances...the numbers are not on their side,” said BJP spokesperson GVL Narasimha Rao.