‘Investment risk’ behind uncontested wins in Arunachal Pradesh

Five BJP candidates, including Chief Minister Pema Khandu, are set to win unopposed as they are the sole candidates left in their respective Assembly constituencies after filing of nominations

We have received nominations from only one candidate in five Assembly constituencies. The outcome will be official after March 30, the last date for withdrawal of nominations

LIKEN KOYU Arunachal Joint Chief Electoral Officer

The fear of not recovering the “investment” for a berth in the 60member Assembly is believed to be the primary reason behind candidates winning uncontested in Arunachal Pradesh.

Five Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidates, including Chief Minister Pema Khandu, are expected to win unopposed as they were the sole candidates in their respective constituencies after March 27, the last date for filing nominations.

“We have received nominations from only one candidate in five Assembly constituencies. The outcome will be official after March 30, the last date of withdrawal of nominations,” State’s Joint Chief Electoral Officer Liken Koyu said.

The Chief Minister is the only candidate from the Mukto Assembly seat in the Tawang district. The case is similar for retired engineer Techi Rotu from Sagalee in Papum Pare, Jikke Tako from Tali in KraDaadi, Nyato Dukam from Taliha in Upper Subansiri, and Mutchu Mithi from Roing in the Lower Dibang Valley district.

Mr. Mithi, who won the Roing seat as a National People’s Party candidate in 2019, switched over to the BJP in February.

High costs

Mr. Khandu won the Mukto seat, which his father Dorjee Khandu once held, uncontested twice before as a Congress candidate. The first was in the byelection in 2011 after his father died in a helicopter crash and the second was in 2014.

In his first election as a BJP candidate in 2019, he defeated Thupten Kunphen of the Congress by securing 70.74% of the total votes polled in Mukto.

“Elections in Arunachal are not about democracy, merit, or electing a good leader. It boils down to money and how much one can spend to buy votes from fewer than 15,000 voters in most constituencies,” Tongam Rina, the Deputy Editor of the Itanagarbased Arunachal Times told The Hindu.

“A candidate in the State is believed to spend at least ₹30 crore during elections. Those who can afford to spend more will win. Some candidates may have money but not enough. So, they just give up leading to uncontested wins,” she said.

Nani Bath, a senior lecturer of political science at Arunachal University, indicated that prepoll assurances also are a factor behind uncontested wins. “It is a promise of position and exchange of resources,” he said.

Others attribute such an electoral victory to the performance of certain candidates. Apart from being one of the richest candidates in the country, Mr. Khandu is said to have made Tawang one of the most developed districts in Arunachal Pradesh.

The trend of uncontested wins began in the 1990s. Four candidates — T.L. Rajkumar from Khonsa West, Thupten Tempa from Tawang, Rajesh Tacho from Anini, and former Chief Minister Mukut Mithi from Roing — won unopposed in the 1999 Assembly polls.

Former Chief Minister Nabam Tuki, who is contesting the Arunachal West parliamentary seat against the BJP’s Kiren Rijiju, won the Sagalee seat uncontested in 2004.

The 2009 Assembly polls saw an uncontested clean sweep by Congress candidates in the Tawang district. While Dorjee Khandu won the Mukto seat, Tsewang Dhondup and Jambey Tashi won the Tawang and Lumla seats.

The 2014 elections had the highest number of uncontested winners – seven of Congress, including Mr. Khandu. The others were Phurpa Tsering (Dirang), Mama Natung (Seppa West), Kameng Dolo (PakkeKessang), Nabam Rebia (Doimukh), Nabam Tuki (Sagalee), and Lombo Tayeng (Mebo).