Assembly polls: BJP releases list of Arunachal Pradesh candidates

GUWAHATI: BJP on Sunday announced the names of 54 candidates for election to the 60-member legislative assembly in Arunachal Pradesh , which will be held simultaneously with Lok Sabha polls on April 11. The names of candidates for the remaining six constituencies are likely to be announced later.

BJP came to power in this frontier state bordering China, Myanmar and Bhutan on three sides in December, 2016 after 43 Congress MLAs switched to Peoples' Party of Arunachal (PPA) MLAs, who then again defected to BJP and formed the saffron party’s government led by chief minister Pema Khandu .

In the assembly elections of 2014 the Congress had won 42 seats while the BJP won in 11. The Peoples Party of Arunachal (PPA) won five seats while two went to independents.

Khandu will lead the party as a candidate from Mukto assembly constituency in Tawang district right at China’s doorsteps, which was the epicenter of the 1962 Chinese aggression.

Arunachal, which China claims as its own, has often seen agitations for identity by different tribal groups, which may likely to dominate campaigning this time. Last month, the state witnessed widespread after the government decided to grant permanent resident certificates to six non-Arunachal ethnic groups

Interesting facts:

1. The state just 7,94,162 voters, which including 4,01,601 women

2. There are 2,202 polling stations

3. Polling station no 52 at Naharalagun under Itanagar Assembly constituency has the highest number of voters, 1,340

4. Malogam polling station under Hayuliang constituency in Anjaw district has only one female voter

5. Luguthang polling booth under Mukto constituency in Tawang district is the highest polling station located at an altitude of about 13,583 feet