BJP sweeps Arunachal elections

Itanagar: The BJP on Sunday returned to power in Arunachal Pradesh for the third time in a row, winning 46 seats in the 60-member assembly, and bagging four more seats compared to its 2019 tally. In sweeping the assembly elections, the counting of which was held during the day, the BJP decimated the opposition parties, especially the Congress which was relegated to the fifth position with only one seat after NPP (5), NCP (3) and PPA (2).

Three seats went to Independent candidates. Chief Minister Pema Khandu asserted that the momentum of what happened in the ‘Land of the rising sun’, a sobriquet for Arunachal Pradesh, will spread to other parts of the country on June 4 when votes for the Lok Sabha elections will be counted.

“This is a historic occasion for the BJP and entire Arunachal Pradesh. The people of Arunachal Pradesh have declared that they want BJP to stay in power for the next five years. This time, the mandate is more than what we got in 2019. In the 2019 Assembly polls, BJP won 41 seats, while we have won 46 seats this time,” Khandu said. Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated the people of Arunachal Pradesh for the landslide win. “Thank you Arunachal Pradesh! The people of this wonderful state have given an unequivocal mandate to politics of development. My gratitude to them for reposing their faith in @BJP4Arunachalyet again. Our Party will keep working with even greater vigour for the state’s growth,” Modi said in a post on X.

In response, Khandu said, “Your guidance and vision have played a monumental role in our success. We shall continue with greater vigour to work for Sabka Sath, Sabka Vikas.” Khandu himself won uncontested from the Mukto assembly constituency.