BJP suffers setback in northeastern Indian state

NEW DELHI — India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) suffered a political setback in a northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh on Saturday with the opposition Congress party pulling off a coup in the state by bringing the rebels back into its fold, six months after they deserted the party under the leadership of Kalikho Pul. In a dramatic turnaround in Arunachal Pradesh, the Congress party on Saturday replaced Chief Minister Nabam Tuki with Pema Khandu, who staked claim to power on the basis of support of 45 party party legislators along with two Independents. Hours ahead of a scheduled floor test in the assembly, the Congress MLAs met and elected 37-year-old Pema Khandu, son of former Chief Minister Dorjee Khandu, as its new leader. In the 60-member House with an effective strength of 58, the Congress now claims the support of 47 MLAs, including two independents. Khandu, a graduate from Delhi’s Hindu College, was one of the 21 rebel legislators who walked out of the party last year, plunging the Tuki administration in crisis. The development comes as a setback for the BJP that had backed rebel leader Kalikho Pul, who walked out of the party in November with 20 other MLAs, and formed the government with support from the saffron party. The Supreme Court had restored the Congress government in the state on Wednesday, scrapping all decisions by the governor that had led to the fall of the Tuki administration. The decision was seen as a huge blow to the BJP-ruled federal government that had imposed president’s rule in the state and had supported Pul, who took over as CM from Tuki. On Friday, governor Tathagata Roy turned down Tuki’s request for more time before the floor test after the Congress leader complained that the vote had been scheduled in haste. The new leader of the Congress, 37-year-old Khandu, is the son of former CM Dorji Khandu, who died in a helicopter crash in 2011 after five years in power. “Will see that development gets priority with the involvement of all sections of society,” he told reporters. He was the legislator from Mukto in Tawang district and was the tourism minister in Tuki’s administration. He quit last year and sided with Pul. He has a graduation degree from Hindu College in Delhi.