Amidst heightened tensions following the announcement of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) candidate list for the forthcoming Arunachal Pradesh Assembly elections, Itanagar, the capital city, is enveloped in a cloak of heavy security. The BJP’s decision to unveil the full slate of 60 candidates simultaneously with the Lok Sabha nominations has sparked concerns of potential unrest, particularly in light of the denial of party tickets to several sitting ministers and MLAs.
The BJP’s state office in Itanagar has become a fortress, with a robust contingent of security personnel drawn from the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) and the state police force standing guard. The deployment aims to preempt any law and order disturbances amid apprehensions of protests and possible violence from disgruntled party members.
Among the notable exclusions from the BJP’s candidate list are incumbent Home Minister Bamang Felix, who was denied a ticket from the Nyapin Assembly constituency. His seat has been awarded to Tai Nikio. Similarly, Agriculture and Horticulture Minister Tage Taki lost out to former engineer Hage Appa in the ticket allocation process.
In a surprising turn of events, three-time MLA Techi Kaso, who defected to the BJP from the Janata Dal (United) last year, secured the party’s nomination for the capital city’s Itanagar constituency.
