Opposition parties condemn dissolution of Arunachal assembly

Opposition parties in Arunachal Pradesh Friday condemned the dissolution of the assembly by the governor and termed it a most undemocratic move.

Governor Lt. Gen. (Retd) Nirbhay Sharma Thursday dissolved the 60-member house on the recommendation of the state cabinet, which demanded holding of assembly elections along with the April 9 Lok Sabha polls.

The Congress had 55 legislators, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) three, Peoples' Party of Arunachal Pradesh one while one was an Independent member in the dissolved assembly.

BJP state unit general secretary Tai Tagak termed the dissolution of the assembly an undemocratic move and said the governor took a one-sided view.

"This is an unfortunate and condemnable move and is going to affect free and fair polls," Tagak said.

He added that the party has already sent a letter to the president seeking his intervention in the matter. "We have sent a copy of the letter to the Election Commission as well," he said.

"The political parties need time to prepare for the state assembly polls. This is the rainy season and holding elections now will be difficult as Arunachal Pradesh already has communication bottlenecks," he said.

Echoing similar sentiments, Peoples' Party of Arunachal Pradesh president Gumjum Haider termed the development most undemocratic. He said his party would not agree to having the assembly polls together with the parliamentary elections.

"The government is saying the move would save expenditure. However, if the state is in such a bad economic position, the government should have made it public," Haider said, adding that his party would write to the Election Commission.

"The assembly should not have been dissolved when there are still seven to eight months for the elections unless there is a constitutional breakdown or severe financial crisis," he said.