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| Headlines Vol. 1 Issue 34-35 | Jan 22-Feb 6 , 1999 |
End of Apang era in Arunachal Mukut Mithi is the new CM Gegong Apang's most cherished dream of surpassing West Bengal patriarch Jyoti Basu's record as the longest surviving chief minister of any state in the country was shattered, when he had no other alternatives but to resign after losing a trial of strength in the Arunachal Pradesh assembly. He resigned as Chief Minister after a stint of 19 years. Mr. Apang's bete noire Mukut Mithi was sworn in as the Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh following his resignation. The end of the Apang era in Arunachal came when a trust motion moved by the former chief minister was defeated in the State assembly by voice vote. Altogether 36 members were present in house when the motion was put to vote. Gegong Apang became the chief minister of Arunachal Pradesh in 1980 at the age of 33. He was to complete his fourth consecutive term in office next year. Though he failed to surpass Jyoti Basu's feat, he has already earned the distinction of being the longest serving Congress chief minister. He could have put this record out of anybody's reach, had he not left the Congress following differences with the then party chief P. V. Narsimha Rao. Such was Mr. Apang's political acumen and ability to maneuver that his colleagues' started pouring in his residence after he resigned. That made political observers to hope that he might be able to turn the table soon. But Mr. Apang, who faced many such crises in his illustrious political career every time emerging victorious, failed to save his bastion this time, which crumbled like a house of cards. Political observers cite many reasons which triggered the downfall of Gegong Apang. After taking over the reins of the State, new Chief Minister Mukut Mithi claimed that he and his colleagues had to break away from the Arunachal Congress because of Mr. Apang's divide and rule policy which created advantages for him politically but was not good for the future of the State. Mr. Apang was also charged with favouritism, corruption, repression, nepotism and dynastic rule by his former colleagues. On the other hand, Gegong Apang believes that the threat to the ministers and MLAs by the Khaplang faction of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN-K) caused the damage. He claimed that he had also received threat from that outfit which has considerable presence in two districts of the State. But, as a matter of fact, dissidence against Mr. Apang started brewing when he bargained with the BJP leadership for the induction of his son Omok Apang in the Union Cabinet in return of Arunachal Congress' support to the BJP-led coalition Government at the Centre. This move of Mr. Apang considerably irked the other MP from the State, Wancha Rajkumar. He thought that he should be in the Union Cabinet ahead of Omok Apang as he was more experienced and this was his second term in Lok Sabha. The former chief minister's son entered Parliament for the first time. Wancha Rajkumar then started working overtime to unite all anti-Apang forces in the State. Mukut Mithi, a known dissident, joined hands with him. Together, they are a formidable force in the State, but they had to wait a little long as Mr. Apang had the numbers in his favour in the State Assembly. The relentless anti-Apang campaign of this duo received a boost when seven Nyishi ministers led by Takam Sanjoy resigned from the State Cabinet following a call from the Nyishi Elite Society, the apex body of the tribe, which was of the view that Mr. Apang had belied their aspirations. The Nyshis' has the highest population in Arunachal followed by the Adi tribe to which Gegong Apang belongs. That opened the floodgates. Ministers who were not happy with Apang's style of functioning joined the seven Nyshi ministers. Soon their number swelled to 24, out of which 18 were ministers in Apang's ministry. They formed Arunachal Congress (M).The 24 member of the Arunachal Congress (M) then paraded before the Speaker of the State assembly and requested him to recognise the new party. The Congress and the independent MLAs also extended their support to the new party. Gegong Apang was away from Itanagar when this drama was being enacted. After returning to the State capital, in a damage control exercise, convened a meeting of his 36-member council of ministers. But only nine of them attended the meeting. Citing the NSCN threat to the elected representatives, the meeting recommended the dissolution of the assembly and fresh elections. However, Arunachal Pradesh Governor Mata Prasad refused to take cognizance of the of the recommendation apparently due to the fact that majority of the ministers did not attend the said meeting. He asked Gegong Apang to prove his strength on the floor of the house. Realising that he would not be able to prove his majority in the house, Mr. Apang then through his his finance minister Tahiung Tatak, filed a writ petition in the Guwahati High Court challenging the Governor's decision. But from there too, he didn't get any favourable response. Mr. Apang knocked the doors of the Supreme Court too, but the apex court refused to interfere on the pretext that the issue was pending before the Guwahati High Court. New Chief Minister Mukut Mithi has listed improvement of infrastructure and economic upliftment as his priorities. After the swearing-in ceremony, he said that despite the claim of a sound financial condition, the reality was different. “Funds have been pumped into non-viable projects. Many people are still living a hand-to-mouth existence,” he said. Revealing his strategy of economic upliftment, Mr. Mithi said that his Government would identify projects to overcome the financial crisis and help the people. He felt that the ban on timber trade has hit the Arunachal people hard. Speaking on maintaining communal harmony in the State, he informed that his Government would strive to remove the discord between various tribes and sub tribes in the State. He also felt that the Nyishis were deprived of the benefits of development projects. Mr. Mithi informed that his Government would resume dialogue with the Chakma-Hajong refugees and extend financial assistance to the refugees for repatriation. Regarding the demand for Union Territory status for Tirap and Changlang districts, he said that the UT issue had not been discussed yet. He also denied allegations that the recent desertion move was masterminded by Christian missionaries. |
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