Arunachal Pradesh: Turning the Clock Back on the Political Crisis

SC rules that “the clock should be turned back” in Arunachal Pradesh. Here’s a quick recap what happened.

It’s the second court order in the last 24 hours that’s given the Congress reason to breathe easy. After the Delhi High Court’s ruling on the National Herald Case, the Supreme Court today restored the Congress government in Arunachal Pradesh, observing that Governor Jyoti Prasad Rajkhowa’s decision to advance the state assembly session for a trust vote was in violation of the Constitution and liable to be quashed.

But how did the internal crisis precipitate in the frontier state that shares a border that is more than 890 kilometres long with China, much of which is disputed?

Internal Bickering

“The only political party that can survive in Arunachal Pradesh is the umbrella party,” jokes veteran journalist and editor of the Arunachal Front, Pradeep Kumar, while speaking to The Quint. His reference is to the political and constitutional drama that unfolded in the capital, Itanagar, on December 16. Trouble had been brewing since April 2015 when Chief Minister Nabam Tuki dropped Kalikho Pul as the Health and Family Welfare Minister for his “poor performance”. In retaliation, Pul reportedly rounded up considerable support from rebel Congress leaders and tried to effect a change of leadership.

BJP Senses An Opportunity

Around the same time, the BJP, riding high on the year-old Modi wave, was ready for mid-term elections but the idea was dropped after the Congress MLAs, still reeling from the 2014 debacle, failed to match their enthusiasm.

Sensing the Congress’ house in disarray, the BJP demanded that Chief Minister Nabam Tuki prove he still had the confidence of the House. For this, they appealed to Governor Prakash Rajkhowa to advance the winter session of the assembly.

The Governor allowed the Winter Session of the Assembly to be advanced by a month to December 16. This incensed Chief Minister Nabam Tuki and the Congress Party who saw it as a constitutional overreach prompted by political leanings towards the BJP. It also started a nationwide debate among constitutional experts on the powers enjoyed by the nominal head of a state.

Even as the Congress approached the Guwahati High Court, the Assembly Speaker Nebam Rebia, who remains a Tuki loyalist, ordered the Assembly premises to be locked down.

One Governor, One State, Two Chief Ministers?

Not to be deterred, 21 rebel Congress MLAs, 11 BJP and 2 independents (a total of 34 MLAs in a 60-member Assembly) decided to follow the order of business in a school building adjacent to the Assembly complex.

Incidentally, of the 21 Congress rebels, 14 MLAs had earlier been disqualified by Nebam Rebia for “participating in anti-party activities” and 2 others had resigned or, as they claim, “were forced to hand in resignation letters by the Chief Minister”.

This renegade Assembly impeached Assembly Speaker Nebam Rebia, restored the membership of the 14 MLAs who had been disqualified and later accepted Kalikho Pul as their Chief Minister.

Had it not been for the intervention of the Guwahati High Court and the Congress workers who blocked the rebels’ route to the Raj Bhavan, Kalikho Pul may well have formed a new government in Arunachal Pradesh.

Financial Embezzlement or Deficit?

The power struggle in Itanagar centers around an alleged Rs 6,000 crore scam.

Shortly after Kalikho Pul was dropped from the Cabinet and expelled from the Congress Party, he accused the Arunachal Pradesh government of financial mismanagement to the tune of Rs 6,000 crore. The Nabam Tuki government promptly denied the charges but admitted an accumulated deficit of Rs 4,486.74 crore over 10 years.

The Arunachal Pradesh government, completely financially dependent on the Centre, claimed that the grants given by the 13th Finance Commission did not cover the salaries and pensions of the 18,863 government employees recruited over the last 10 years.

Turning Back the Clock

On January 25, Pranab Mukherjee imposed President’e rule in Arunachal Pradesh after a report by the Governor said that with no government in place, the law and order situation in the state had deteriorated.

On February 19, President’s Rule was lifted in the state and dissident Kaliko Phul was sworn in as Chief Minister. The rebel Congress MLAs merged with the People’s Party of Arunachal (PPA), which put them out of reach of any legal action by the Congress.

But the four-month-old government has been shown the door by the Supreme Court that has literally set the clock back to December 9, 2015, ruling that all steps and decisions taken after the Governor’s decision to advance the assembly session by a month are unsustainable and liable to be quashed.

It’s a huge legal, moral victory for the Congress. But it’s bound to be challenged by the dissidents who, for now, enjoy political majority.