Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) replaces candidate for Tezu Assembly seat in Arunachal Pradesh

OUR CORRESPONDENT

Itanagar: In a surprise move, the BJP has removed the name of Badang Tayang as the official nominee for the Tezu assembly seat in Arunachal Pradesh and fielded former minister Mahesh Chai in his place.

In the list announced on March 13, the party selected Tayang as the official nominee from the Tezu constituency. However, it reviewed the situation and issued a fresh notification on Thursday declaring the candidature of Chai for the seat. The move has reportedly angered a section of party cadres in Tezu.

"The party's central leadership has reviewed the ground situation and found Chai more suitable for the seat," BJP state in-charge president Tarh Tarak said.

Tarak added that it was the decision of the central leadership to replace Tayang, as they might have found that the ground situation was not suitable for him. Otherwise, this is the rarest of the rarest cases, which do not generally happen in the BJP.

As per BJP insiders, Chai was reportedly putting pressure on state leadership to change his candidature and recommend his name instead of Tayang. Chai, a former minister, unsuccessfully contested the seat in 2019 on a BJP ticket.

However, Tayang could not be contacted for his comment. Assembly and general elections will be held simultaneously in the state on April 19.

The counting of votes for Assembly polls would be held on June 2, and for Lok Sabha polls, it would be held on June 4, respectively. Arunachal Pradesh has two Lok Sabha seats and a 60-member Assembly. The term of the present assembly ends on June 2.

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