Nabam Tuki resigns as Arunachal Congress leader ahead of floor test

Ahead of Saturday's floor test in the Arunachal Pradesh state Assembly, Nabam Tuki has resigned as the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader, and Pema Khandu has been elected in his place.

Should the Congress win the floor test, Khandu is most likely to become the next chief minister of Arunachal Pradesh.

"You all know that the CLP is in agreement and Pema Khandu will be sworn in as the chief minister," Congress MLA Kameng Dolo said.

Pema Khandu, son of late chief minister Dorjee Khandu, was unanimously elected leader at a meeting of Congress Legislature Party, which was attended by 44 MLAs, including rebel Khaliko Pul, who became chief minister in February with outside support from BJP.

37-year-old Pema, a former minister of Tourism and Water Resources, is an MLA from Mukto (ST) constituency. A graduate from Hindu College, Delhi, Pema became a Secretary of the Arunachal Pradesh Congress Committee in 2005 and the president of the District Congress Committee in Tawang in 2010.

The Assembly now has an effective strength of 58 in which BJP has 11 and Independents 2. With Speaker Nabam Rebia and the return of dissidents, the Congress strength has gone up to 45.

Meanwhile, PCC President, Padi Richo, Nabam Tuki, Pema khandu and Jai Kumar are going to meet Governor to submit letters of support from the 44 Cong MLAs.

Rejecting Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Nabam Tuki's request to provide some time in regard to holding the floor test to prove the majority of the Congress Party, acting Governor Tathagata Roy had on Friday scheduled the floor test for today. Tuki, addressing a letter to the Governor had sought at least ten days time from for the floor test.

But Governor Roy declined his request stating that in the view of upcoming monsoon, which might lead to rainfall and landslides the deferment of floor test will be difficult. "I thank you and your Home Minister for your kind visit to the Raj Bhawan on 15.7.2016 at 1 pm.

I congratulate you on your resumption as Chief Minister in obedience of the Honourable Supreme Court's orders. I have given my most careful consideration to your request for not summoning the state legislative assembly for the purpose of proving your majority on the floor of the House," the letter said.

"I regret I am not in a position to agree with your submission made in your above letters and during our meeting. You appear to have contended that the notice given to you for summoning the Assembly is too short, for certain reason," it added.

Governor Roy further said that with the means of transport and communication now available, he does not see much difficulty in the MLAs attending a session of July 16.

"Monsoon will not abate as day go on but will intensify. These may lead to landslides and/or heavy fog in the coming days. Thus it is quite possible that granting more time may worsen things," he added.

"I do not consider this to be a serious objection at all. We all do things on holidays when circumstances so warrant," he added.

The Governor's directive came a day after the Supreme Court, in a historic verdict on Wednesday, restored Tuki as Chief Minister, a position he lost last December when Congress rebels, backed by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), staged a coup.

Meanwhile, Section 144 has been imposed in Itanagar near the Assembly ahead of the floor test. The Governor, however, said that he would consult the legal experts and take advice of the Advocate General, and then he would decide a proper date.

The Governor, who recently took additional charge of Arunachal Pradesh after JP Rajkhowa went on leave due to ill health, on Thursday officially reinstated Tuki as the Chief Minister. He has also asked the Chief Minister to call the Legislative Assembly session immediately and prove his majority no later than July 16.

An official statement from the Governor's secretariat said in order to ensure that the proceedings of the assembly take place peacefully and appropriately, the sessions shall be video-graphed.

"The Governor emphasised that the conduct of the proceedings, including the videography, in the House shall strictly follow the principles laid down by the Hon'ble Supreme Court in its order dated May 6, 2016 in the matter pertaining to the matter of imposition of President's Rule in the State of Uttarakhand (SLP C 11567/2016) Union of India Vs Harish Chandra Singh Rawat," the statement added.

A five-judge constitution bench had pronounced the verdict on a bunch of petitions dealing with discretionary powers of the Governor to summon or advance the assembly session.

Stating the Governor's direction on conducting the assembly proceedings is unconstitutional, the apex court set aside all steps and decision taken by the legislative assembly pursuant to the Governor's December 9th last year order and said they are unsustainable.

Tuki-led Congress government was dismissed following days of turmoil after 21 of its 47 legislators rebelled against the chief minister. Eleven BJP MLAs backed the rebels in the bid to upstage the government. Later, 14 rebel Congress MLAs were disqualified.