It all started with tussle over an airport
GUWAHATI: Arunachal Pradesh governor Jyoti Prasad Rajkhowa was on a collision course with former Congress chief minister Nabam Tuki from the day he took charge – June 1, 2015. But what led to Tuki’s ouster in January this year was a missive battle over a proposed Greenfield airport.
Rajkhowa is on leave. His Tripura counterpart Tathagata Roy took additional charge of Arunachal Pradesh on July 10.
In October 2015, Rajkhowa wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi suggesting that the proposed airport at Hollongi, 70km from Arunachal Pradesh capital Itanagar, be scrapped to save `1,150 crore, including `500 crore in land compensation.
He advised upgrading the Lilabari airport in Assam’s North Lakhimpur town nearby, adding he was echoing the suggestion of opposition leaders, students’ organisations and social activists in Arunachal Pradesh.
Rajkhowa’s move “surprised” Tuki. But the governor said he had officially sought a reply from Tuki twice on the airport issue. He also said Tuki replied to only three of the 19 letters he wrote on other issues.
Rajkhowa’s letter to Modi did not directly name the “vested interests” but said Tuki, his cousin and former assembly speaker Nabam Rebia and other members of their families own most of the land at Hollongi “because of which the original site for the airport was moved”.
The airport was initially scheduled to be built at Karsingsa near Itanagar and the foundation stone was laid by former Union minister Shivraj Patil in 2008. The Tuki government rejected the site in 2012 for geographical complications and opted for Hollongi.
The cold war between Rajkhowa and Tuki intensified and led to the latter’s ouster in January this year.
Rajkhowa, a 1968-batch IAS officer who did his post-graduation from the Delhi School of Economics, retired as Assam’s chief secretary in 2004. His colleagues remember him as a no-nonsense officer who would not be bothered by conscience if written rules justified his actions.
His appointment as Arunachal’s 19th governor was “unexpected” but the Congress sensed trouble since his predecessor Lt Gen (retired) Nirbhay Sharma was shifted to Mizoram after the state BJP complained he was biased towards the Tuki-led government.
“I am not anybody’s agent and the Raj Bhavan is not the headquarters of BJP or RSS,” Rajkhowa said after the Tuki government was dismissed on January 26.
He said he went by the book to advance the state assembly session by a month to December 16-18 last year. He invoked Article 174(1) and 175(2) of the Constitution to advance the session and facilitate the removal of speaker Rebia.
GOVERNOR AND CM TUKI FOUGHT A MISSIVE BATTLE OVER THE GREENFIELD AIRPORT, WHICH EVENTUALLY LED TO THE CM’S OUSTER