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.

Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju said Phase III of eCourts Project will build on the gains made by the earlier two phases that proved crucial in the delivery of justice during the COVID-19 pandemic when courts were under lockdown protocol. File
| Photo Credit: PTI

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday allocated ₹7,000 crore for the launch of Phase III of the eCourts Project that seeks efficient administration of justice.

Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju, in a series of tweets, thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Finance Minister as well as Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud, who headed the eCommittee of the Supreme Court.

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“This will ensure “Ease of Justice” and further improves the justice delivery system that the Hon’ble PM @narendramodi ji has always envisioned,” Mr. Rijiju tweeted.

“I also compliment the Hon’ble Chief Justice of India, Dr D.Y. Chandrachud ji who as the Chairperson of the eCommittee of the Supreme Court of India has been instrumental in the success of the earlier phases of the eCourts Project and who personally supervised and mentored the formulation of the DPR [Detailed Project Report] of the Phase-III of the Project,” he added.

The Minister said Phase III of eCourts Project will build on the gains made by the earlier two phases that proved crucial in the delivery of justice during the COVID-19 pandemic when courts were under lockdown protocol.

“The project envisages various path breaking initiatives like: Digital & Paperless Courts that aim to bring court proceedings under a digital format in a court, thereby, limiting the use of paper and speeding up the disposal of cases, Online Court that focus on eliminating the presence of litigants or lawyers in the court, Expansion of scope of Virtual Courts beyond adjudication of Traffic Violations,” Mr. Rijiju said in the tweets.

The Minister noted that the use of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning would allow for data analysis to work towards reduction in pendency and understanding litigation patterns and forecasting future needs.

While 4,400 fully functional eSewa Kendras will provide assistance to all lawyers and litigants, live streaming of court hearings would allow for further transparency in judicial proceedings, he said.

Digitisation of all court records will further pave the way for a completely paperless environment in future. “An Online Dispute Resolution platform will encourage alternate dispute resolution and a robust video conferencing system will create seamless connectivity between the jails & courts, allowing for all bail appearances over VC,” Mr. Rijiju said.