Stunned Congress blames PM, Shah for Arunachal fiasco

Says the People's Party of Arunachal Pradesh is the illegitimate child of the BJP

Stunned by the en masse defection of its government in Arunachal Pradesh, the Congress on Friday blamed Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief Amit Shah for the "con" job.

"The People's Party of Arunachal Pradesh is the illegitimate child of the BJP," Congress communication chief Randeep Surjewala said after 42 of the 44 party lawmakers in the border state joined the new outfit.

AICC in charge of north-eastern states C P Joshi accused the centre of threatening the Congress lawmakers that if they did not ditch the grand old party, development funds would be blocked. Joshi accused the BJP of trying to impose its ideology on the north-eastern region saying the Centre was playing similar tactics in Congress-ruled Manipur.

Denying there was no infighting in Arunachal Pradesh, Joshi warned the lawmakers that they had been elected on a Congress ticket and the people will teach them a lesson for breaking their trust.

A political game has been on in Arunachal Pradesh for the past few months when the BJP-supported PDP formed a government under Congress rebel Kalikho Pul as chief minister. Pul was found dead in his home in August. Former chief minister Nabam Tuki was re-instated only in July after the Supreme Court declared the Congress defections null and void.

"The day the SC order came, Amit Shah was in Guwahati along with 30 of the PDP lawmakers," said Joshi alleging the BJP ferried the Congress defectors and paid for their five star hotel stay.

After the apex court order, a deft move by the Congress saw Tuki withdrawing and Pema Khandu becoming the new chief minister as part of a compromise formula.In a house of 60 members, the Congress had 44 lawmakers and 11 members are from the BJP. Two independent lawmakers who supported the Congress have also joined the People's Party of Arunachal Pradesh."The BJP made two attempts earlier but did not succeed," said Joshi adding, "they were adopting unconstitutional methods to expand their reach in the north eastern region. "The Congress leader went on to compare the situation in north east with the recent disturbances in Jammu and Kashmir. "We warn the BJP not to play such politics," said Joshi.

The BJP said the Congress was responsible for the crisis. "The BJP has nothing to do with this. The Congress shouldn't blame the BJP for its own failure," said minister of state for home Kiren Rijiju. "If the chief minister and ministers have to wait for days to meet their own leadership in Delhi, how can they stay in such a party," he added.