Congress MLA Markio Tado has resigned from the primary membership of the Congress party and defected to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday. The resignation of Tado comes a day after the Election Commission announced simultaneous Lok Sabha and Assembly polls in Arunachal on April 11 next.
Tado represented the Tali Assembly constituency in Kra Daadi district. In his resignation letter submitted to Congress president Takam Sanjoy, Tado expressed his inability to continue with the party due to “personal reasons”.
He, however, while addressing a press conference said that “the Congress has no vision for the future of the state.” “I joined the BJP in the larger interest of the state and the people of my constituency. Arunachal has witnessed rapid development under the chief minister Pema Khandu-led BJP government,” said Tado, while announcing that he would not the contest the Assembly polls this year and instead support his former opponent, Thaji Gichak Kiogi, who is an aspiring BJP candidate from Tali constituency.
“I have made up my mind to not contest the ensuing Assembly elections for the best interest of my constituency and people. I will instead extend my unconditional support to Kiogi,” he announced. Tado had won the Assembly election from Tali, once as Peoples’ Party of Arunachal candidate in 2009 and then as a Congress contestant in 2014. With Tado resigning on Monday, the Congress in the state is left with four legislators in the house of 60.