M A I N   N E W S

Apang stakes claim to form govt

Itanagar, July 28
Mr Gegong Apang, leader of the newly formed United Democratic Front (UDF), today met Arunachal Pradesh Governor V C Pande at the Raj Bhavan along with 41 legislators to stake claim to form the government.

The meeting lasted for about 90 minutes and the Governor’s decision was awaited on whether he would ask Congress Chief Minister Mukut Mithi to resign or prove his majority in the House.

Mr Pande had last night directed Mr Apang to line up all MLAs who were supporting him.

Soon after meeting the Governor, Mr Apang, the Arunachal Congress chief, told reporters that the Mithi government, which he claimed had been reduced to a minority, should resign.

Mr Apang, a former Chief Minister, said he was ready to prove his majority on the floor of the House if an emergency session was summoned.

Giving details of the constituents of the 42-member UDF, Mr Apang claimed that 38 of the 56 members of the CLP had broken away from the party and the split had been approved and accepted by the Speaker today.

Others in the UDF included two associate members of the Congress, one member of the Arunachal Congress (Apang himself) and one unattached member Mr L. Wanglat, he said. — PTI

Cong leaders to meet PM over Arunachal
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, July 28
Disturbed over political developments in Arunachal Pradesh, senior Congress leaders will tomorrow meet Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee to tell him about the “deteriorating conditions” in the North-East, especially the sensitive border state.

Congress chief spokesman Jaipal Reddy said today that the party had sought time for a meeting with the Prime Minister.

The Congress is simultaneously making efforts to retrieve lost ground in the state. Party general secretary Oscar Fernandes, who is the in charge of Arunachal Pradesh affairs, is likely to leave for the state tomorrow. AICC secretary Dalbir Singh is already in Arunachal Pradesh.

Mr Reddy accused “elements associated with the NDA” of destabilising the Congress government in Arunachal Pradesh. He alleged that MLAs had been pressurised and inducements had been given to them.

“The government was destabilised for petty, partisan gains. It is not only the Congress that will lose but the country as a whole has a lot at stake,” he said.

Mr Reddy said state Chief Minister Mukut Mithi had been writing to the Prime Minister and the Home Minister about disruptive activities of certain Naga groups in two districts of the state and had sought the assistance of Central security forces and agencies.

He said the Congress was not opposed to the peace process in Nagaland but it should not be used for political ends.

“We believe that some of the MLAs who began to differ from the Chief Minister did so under pressure and because of inducements,” he said.

The spokesman said through “sedulous cultivation” of people in the North-East for the past 50 years, the country had made solid gains and people of the sensitive, volatile region had been “emotionally integrated.”