Kiren Rijiju is the former Union Law Minister (File).
New Delhi:
The achievements of the Modi government over the past 10 years mean the on-ground situation in Arunachal Pradesh is “very favourable” for the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha election, Union Minister Kiren Rijiju told NDTV Friday evening.
Mr Rijiju, 52, expressed confidence the BJP will retain the state’s two Lok Sabha seats, and predicted a clean sweep in the Assembly election that will be held simultaneously.
“In the entire northeast, the wave is very clear. The achievements of the Modi government over the past 10 years have made the situation very favourable for the BJP and its allies.”
“As far as Arunachal Pradesh is concerned, we are confident of winning both seats… by a record margin. The people are aware of the ground situation and want to give Modiji another opportunity. We are likely to perform better than last time… in the Assembly election also, we are likely to make a clean sweep. We will have absolute majority.”
“I have been representing this constituency since 2004, and I feel peoples’ confidence (in the Modi government) has only grown since then,” he told NDTV.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha election the BJP picked up the Arunachal West and East seats, and then dominated the state poll. It won 41 of the state’s 60 seats – a jump of 30 from 2014.
Mr Rijiju is the MP from the Arunachal West seat, which he won by defeating the Congress Nabam Tuki by a massive margin of nearly 175,000 votes. He won this seat in 2014 also, beating another Congress candidate – Takam Sanjoy – by over 40,000 votes.
He has been nominated to defend his seat in this election, in which he faces a familiar, and very experienced, rival – the six-time MLA and two-time former Chief Minister Mr Tuki.
On his contest with Mr Tuki, the Union Minister, said, “He is definitely a senior person in Arunachal Pradesh politics and very experienced. So, I won’t take it lightly…”
However, Mr Rijiju underlined the “very favourable” situation for the BJP and said Arunachal would do its bit to ensure the party, and its allies, achieves its target of winning 400+ seats.
“The plan (assuming he is elected for a third term) is very simple… to contribute to state growth. The good news is that a lot of the infrastructure has been built… so now we will focus on skill development and employment for youth. Arunachal is poised for a big leap.”
“In eight to nine years, we will have one of highest per capita incomes of any state in the country. We have all the resources… just need to utilise it and Arunachal will become a favourable economic and tourist destination,” Mr Rijiju said.
The state will vote in both polls on April 19. The results of the parliamentary election will be on June 4. Results for the 60-member state Assembly will be announced two days earlier.
