Staff Reporter
ITANAGAR, 9 Jun: The nomination papers of BJP candidate Tai Tagak for election to the lone Rajya Sabha seat in Arunachal Pradesh were found to be valid during scrutiny on Tuesday.
With Tagak as the lone candidate and BJP enjoying a comfortable majority in the 60-member House, his election to the Upper House of the Parliament is now just a formality.
“The two nomination papers filed by BJP candidate Tai Tagak were scrutinised and found to be valid. Accordingly, the candidate was declared validly nominated for election to the council of states,” Returning Officer-cum-Arunachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly Secretary Tadar Meena said.
The scrutiny was conducted by Meena and ARO Longman Ronrang under the supervision of CEO-cum-observer for the Arunachal Pradesh biennial election Pawan Kumar Sain and Joint CEO Liken Koyu at the Nokmey Namati Hall of the Legislative Assembly secretariat here.
The polls will be held on 18 June.
The election to the Rajya Sabha seat was necessitated as the term of incumbent MP Nabam Rebia is scheduled to end on 23 June.
The BJP currently has 46 legislators in the Assembly, while the People’s Party of Arunachal has six members. The Nationalist Congress Party has three MLAs, while the Congress and the National People’s Party have one member each. Three legislators are independents.
Tagak has been associated with the party for several years and has played a key role in strengthening its organisational base in the state.
Hailing from Peel village in Sangram circle of Kurung Kumey district, he joined the BJP in 1995 as a primary member and rose to serve as state president from 2013 to 2016 through dedication, hard work, and sacrifice.
Speaking to this daily, Tagak recalled his childhood struggles and his rise to the current position.
He said he worked as a child labourer, fetching drinking water from streams and rivers for other labourers, and was paid Rs 2 per day in 1981-82. He also worked as a daily wage labourer for Rs 5 per day during school vacations, he said.
Tagak said that the party has honoured a simple party worker, and that his selection sends a strong message to Arunachal Pradesh that hard work, sacrifice, dedication, and teamwork are recognised in the BJP.
He said his selection reflects faith in dedicated party workers and aligns with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent promise to promote persons from non-political backgrounds to serve the country as ambassadors of a Viksit Bharat.
He expressed gratitude to the central election committee under the leadership of the PM, national BJP president Nitin Nabin, Chief Minister Pema Khandu, state BJP president Kaling Moyong, Deputy Chief Minister Chowna Mein, and all party cadres for reposing faith in him.
He thanked his clan and community organisations, and well-wishers, for their prayers and cooperation.
