In the ensuing Lok Sabha polls to Arunachal West seat, BJP candidate and union minister of state for home Kiren Rijiju to face a tough fight from former Arunachal Pradesh CM and Congress leader Nabam Tuki.
Arunachal Pradesh will witness both Lok Sabha and Assembly polls simultaneously on April 11, 2019.
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The Himalayan State has two parliamentary constituencies – Arunachal West and Arunachal East.
Arunachal West parliamentary constituency, which has produced several union ministers, has witnessed anti-incumbency factor since 1996 Lok Sabha polls.
Kiren Rijiju, who won the last parliamentary polls defeating Takam Sanjoy, current Arunachal Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) president, by a margin of 43,738 votes, may face anti-incumbency factor.
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Two-time chief minister Nabam Tuki has been fielded by the Indian National Congress (INC) to contest in both the Lok Sabha and Assembly polls.
He will contest the Assembly polls from the Sagalee Assembly constituency.
Arunachal West Lok Sabha constituency comprises 33 Assembly segments.
The constituency covers the entire Tawang, East Kameng, West Kameng, Lower Subansiri, Papum Pare, Kurung Kumey, West Siang and Upper Subansiri districts of Arunachal.
Rinching Khandu Khrime was the first MP to be elected to the (6th) Lok Sabha after winning the parliamentary polls in 1977 on Congress ticket.
From 1980 to 1991, it was INC leader and ex-CM Prem Khandu Thungan, who won the seat consecutively for four terms (1980, 1984, 1989 and 1991). He also served as union minister for urban affairs and employment during PV Narasimha Rao’s regime.
After his tenure, the seat never went to any party or Independent candidate.
In 1996 Lok Sabha polls, the voters of the Arunachal West constituency chose none from any political party and voted Tomo Riba, an Independent candidate, to power.
In 1998, it was regional party Arunachal Congress’ Omak Apang, son of ex-chief minister Gegong Apang, who won the polls and became a union minister during AB Vajpayee’s regime.
In 1999, the seat went to INC leader and ex-CM Jarbom Gamlin.
Taking advantage of the anti-incumbency factor, young politician Kiren Rijiju won the seat in 2004 Lok Sabha polls at the age of 33.
However, he lost to Takam Sanjoy, current Arunachal Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) president Takam Sanjoy in 2009 parliamentary polls by a margin of 1,314 votes.
But Rijiju, a well-known orator, who has travelled a lot across the world, was able to make a comeback in 2014.
Apart from Rijiju and Tuki, the Janata Dal (Secular) has fielded Jarjum Ete, who served as the general secretary of the All India Congress Committee (AICC).
Ete, who was an aspirant of a Congress ticket for Arunachal West seat, resigned as a member of the INC after being denied a party ticket and later joined the JD(S).
As per the latest information, Arunachal West parliamentary constituency has:
Total electors: 4,61,214
Male electors: 2,23,234
Female electors: 2,37,980
Polling stations: 1,297