On Saturday (30th March), Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Pawan Kumar Sain told reporters that 10 BJP candidates have been elected unopposed following the closure of the nomination withdrawal period. Notably, only one candidate had filed nomination papers in six assembly constituencies and they were already set to win the polls unopposed. In four other constituencies, only two candidates had filed nomination papers. In these four assembly constituencies, rival candidates withdrew their nomination papers, leaving only the BJP candidates.
10 MLAs of the BJP, including CM Pema Khandu and Deputy CM Chowna Mein, win unopposed out of the 60 seats in Arunachal Pradesh Vidhan Sabha Elections 2024. pic.twitter.com/3gfQFxRkWZ
— ANI (@ANI) March 30, 2024
According to the official, Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu and his deputy Chowna Mein are among these 10 BJP candidates who have been elected unopposed in the state assembly polls.
Pawan Sain added that Pema Khandu was the only person to file a nomination from the Mukto assembly constituency in Tawang district, while Deputy Chief Minister Chowna Mein won the Chowkham seat uncontested after his lone rival Bayamso Kri of the Congress withdrew his nomination on Saturday, the last day for withdrawal of nomination papers.
He said, “Single nomination paper has been filed in six assembly constituencies while in four others, opposition candidates withdrew their papers.”
Here is the list of 10 BJP candidates along with their constituencies who have won the elections before a single vote is cast:
- Pema Khandu – Mukto
- Chowna Mein – Chowkham
- Ratu Techi – Sagalee
- Jikke Tako – Tali
- Nyato Dukam – Taliha
- Mutchu Mithi – Roing
- Hage Appa – Ziro-Hapoli
- Techi Kaso – Itanagar
- Dongru Siongju – Bomdila
- Smt Dasanglu Pul – Hayuliang
Even though 10 seats won unopposed in the 60-member house is a big number, it is still 1 less than the 11 seats won unopposed by Congress in the state in 2014. Arunachal Pradesh has a history of candidates winning elections unopposed. 4 candidates had won unopposed in 1999, 1 in 2004, 3 in 2009, 11 in 2014, and 3 in 2019.
Following the development, incumbent CM Pema Khandu expressed happiness and tweeted, “Celebrated the unopposed win of 10 @BJP4Arunachal Assembly candidates with Hon Minister and in-charge Shri @TheAshokSinghal ji along with Hon’ble Deputy CM Shri @ChownaMeinBJP Ji and party karyakartas at BJP karyalay.”
Celebrated the unopposed win of 10 @BJP4Arunachal Assembly candidates with Hon Minister and in-charge Shri @TheAshokSinghal ji along with Hon'ble Deputy CM Shri @ChownaMeinBJP Ji and party karyakartas at BJP karyalay.
— Pema Khandu པདྨ་མཁའ་འགྲོ་། (Modi Ka Parivar) (@PemaKhanduBJP) March 30, 2024
It's all because of the people's love and trust in… pic.twitter.com/NWHqTAVOwW
He credited PM Modi and his state government’s all-round development initiatives for these victories. The post further stated, “It’s all because of the people’s love and trust in #ModiKiGuarantee and our dedication in ensuring all-round development of the state.”
Hailing the big achievement, Assam Minister and in-charge of Arunachal Pradesh elections, Ashok Singhal expressed hope of scripting new history by winning all 60 assembly seats and two Lok Sabha seats.
अरुणाचल प्रदेश विधान सभा के परिपेक्ष में @BJP4Arunachal के 10 उम्मीदवारों का नामांकन के दौरान निर्विरोध चुने जाना ये बहुत बड़ी उपलब्धि है और मुझे पूर्ण विश्वास है की आगामी लोकसभा चुनाव में अरुणाचल प्रदेश के दोनों सीटों पर भारतीय जनता पार्टी के उम्मीदवार प्रचंड बहुमत से विजय घोषित… pic.twitter.com/mI20m94fvN
— Ashok Singhal (Modi Ka Parivar) (@TheAshokSinghal) March 30, 2024
Taking to X, he wrote, “I have full faith that in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, the candidates of the Bharatiya Janata Party will be declared victorious with a huge majority on both the seats of Arunachal Pradesh and along with that, the Bharatiya Janata Party will win 60 out of 60 seats of the Legislative Assembly and a new history will be created. #AbkiBaar400Paar.”
Earlier, OpIndia had reported that six BJP candidates were bound to get elected ‘unopposed’ after no other candidates filed nomination papers on the 27th of March, the last day of filing nominations from these assembly constituencies.
Arunachal Pradesh assembly has a total strength of 60 members while it has 2 Lok Sabha seats. The polling will be held on 19th April in the state. The BJP has fielded its candidates in all 60 Assembly constituencies in the state, Congress is contesting on 34 seats. The National People’s Party has fielded candidates for 29 seats. The NCP and the Peoples’ Party of Arunachal (PPA) have nominated 17 and two candidates, respectively, for the coming assembly elections.
In the last state elections, BJP secured 41 seats. Later, seven MLAs from other parties, including the Janata Dal-United, joined the saffron party.
The 2019 assembly elections marked a major win for the BJP as it formed its first elected government in Arunachal Pradesh that year. Earlier, Chief Minister Khandu had formed a BJP-led government in 2016 after defecting from the Congress to the People’s Party of Arunachal and later merging it with the BJP.
Meanwhile, two National People’s Party (NPP) members and three Congress MLAs recently joined the BJP camp.
