GUWAHATI: It’s official. Arunachal has an NDA government. BJP on Friday added Arunachal Pradesh as the 14th state in its kitty by joining the People’s Party of Arunachal (PPA) government after having extended outside support for a month.

This is the second time in 13 years that BJP has been in power in the frontier state. In 2003, Arunachal’s longest-serving CM Gegong Apang had headed a BJP-led coalition government for 42 days. BJP functionary in the assembly Tamiyo Taga was sworn in as a member of CM Pema Khandu’s ministry by governor V Shanmuganathan on Friday. Khandu dropped industries, textiles and handicrafts and cooperation minister Tapang Taloh to accommodate Taga in his cabinet.

With this, Arunachal has become the third state in the northeast after Assam and Nagaland to be ruled by BJP in alliance with regional outfits that are part of North East Democratic Alliance (NEDA).

NEDA convener and BJP strongman in Assam Himanta Biswa Sarma said, “After Khandu and his men quit Congress and joined PPA, BJP gave outside support to the government. From today, our support will be from the inside. To be part of the government is a symbolic message.” In a house of 60 members, PPA has 44 MLAs and BJP 11, while Congress has 3.

From Deb Sarkar using media sources

  Arunachal Pradesh, BJP, Northeast