Itanagar, Oct 31 (IANS) Arunachal Pradesh appeared poised for a leadership change with 40 of the 42 Congress party legislators Monday authorising party president Sonia Gandhi to appoint a new Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader replacing Chief Minister Jarbom Gamlin.
The CLP meeting held here in the presence of union Power Minister Sushilkumar Shinde, Congress party in-charge for Arunachal Pradesh Dhaniram Shandil, and senior party leader Bijoy Krishna Handique, failed to arrive at a consensus on a new leader.
‘A one-point resolution was adopted by the 40 legislators authorising AICC president Sonia Gandhi to appoint a new Congress Legislature Party leader in the state,’ Shinde told journalists after the three-hour CLP meeting in Itanagar.
While most of them wanted senior minister and dissident leader Nabam Tuki as the CLP leader, there were some who opposed his candidature and instead wanted a third person as the new chief minister.
‘There was no consensus and hence the decision was left to the AICC president to appoint a new CLP leader,’ a senior minister told IANS, requesting not to be named.
‘While we supported Nabam Tuki’s candidature, there were some who wanted Jarbom Gamlin to continue as the chief minister, and another section advocated for a third person as the leader.’
‘By Tuesday, we should get a new chief minister with all indications that the party president would appoint a new leader by replacing Gamlin,’ another senior Congress legislator said.
Gamlin Saturday sent his resignation to Governor J.J. Singh, but later withdrew his papers following a meeting in New Delhi with Sonia Gandhi.
There has been a growing revolt in Arunachal Pradesh, with a majority of the 42 Congress legislators in the 60-member house opposed to Gamlin. The dissidence is being spearheaded by senior minister and state Congress president Nabam Tuki.
The rift between Tuki and Gamlin has become a major issue in the past two months with the majority of Congress legislators demanding Gamlin’s resignation for his alleged ‘authoritarian rule’.
Gamlin was sworn-in as chief minister May 5 after the death of then chief minister Dorjee Khandu in a helicopter crash April 30.
Besides the Congress, the Trinamool Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) have five members each, the People’s Party of Arunachal has four legislators, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has three. Besides, there is a lone Independent member.
The Trinamool and the NCP provide outside support to the Congress government.
