Former Arunachal Pradesh chief minister Kalikho Pul's wife Dasanglu Pul will contest the by-election for the Assembly seat left vacant after he died in August, the Hindustan Times reported. Dasanglu Pul will stand for the seat on a Bharatiya Janata Party ticket, with state BJP chief Tapir Gao saying all members of the North East Democratic Alliance will support the candidate.
The decision to nominate the former chief minister's wife to contest from the Hayuliang constituency was made at a NEDA meeting, with members of both the BJP and the Peoples' Party of Arunachal in attendance. The nomination came even as reports suggested that Kalikho Pul's first wife, Dangwimsai, was seeking candidature to stand for the Assembly seat. "We appealed to [the] PPA to allow Dasanglu contest on our party's ticket, and they agreed," Gao said. Dasanglu Pul is Kalikho Pul's third wife.
The BJP and PPA have requested other parties to not field candidates for the Hayuliang constituency as a mark of respect for the former chief minister, who allegedly committed suicide. He was found hanging in his room less than a month after the Supreme Court restored the Congress government in Arunachal Pradesh, reinstating Nabam Tuki's leadership. The Congress then suffered a major setback after Chief Minister Pema Khandu, who replaced Tuki, exited the party, along with 42 other state legislators, to join the PPA.
On Tuesday, former Arunachal Pradesh governor Jyoti Prasad Rajkhowa alleged that Kalikho Pul had left behind "secret notes" that could cause "tremors in Indian politics". However, Rajkhowa had said he had not seen the papers himself.
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