Arunachal Pradesh Mahila Congress (APMC) vice-president Marina Kenlang has charged Arunachal Pradesh Congress Committee president Takam Sanjoy of deliberately refusing to give her the necessary forms to file nominations for the ensuing Assembly polls.
The Congress had on Saturday announced the names of 53 candidates for the state’s 60 Assembly seats. The list had the name of Kenlang for the Changlang North seat, however, on Monday, the last day of filing of nomination, someone else submitted the papers.
Ready for a challenge? Click here to take our quiz and show off your knowledge!
Speaking to Northeast Now, Kenlang said that Sanjoy “refused” to give her Forms A and B (forms that political parties need to submit for sponsoring nominated candidates) to file her nominations as a result of which she is now unable to contest the elections.
“There were two Congress contenders for the Changlang (North) seat and my name was on the top. Most of the members of Pradesh Election Committee vouched for me and so did Congress president Rahul Gandhi, who during his recent visit to Itanagar, had asked Sanjoy to support my candidature. However, instead of finalising my name, Sanjoy issued a ticket in favour of the other candidate – Thinghaap Taiju – for reasons best known to him,” Kenlang said.
She said Sanjoy was “playing dirty” after failing to stop the AICC from nominating her for the Changlang (North) seat.
Ready for a challenge? Click here to take our quiz and show off your knowledge!
Kenlang, clarified that she is not against the Congress and would still support the party and its candidate for their endeavours, however, all she wants is “proper justice and explanation”.
“I joined the Congress in 1999 and have been a Zilla Parishad member twice. I have fulfilled the criteria to become a candidate but have been denied. An individual has kept me out, not the party. I will remain with the Congress because I believe in its ideology,” Kenlang said.
Sanjoy, when contacted, said that he simply followed the list finalised by the AICC. “I cannot issue nomination forms to two candidates. The initial list released by the AICC which had Kenlang’s name in it was corrected later and replaced with Taiju’s name. Such decisions are made in New Delhi, not here (Itanagar),” he retorted.