Arunachal CM to be BJP nominee from Mukto Assembly seat
Arunachal Pradesh chief minister Pema Khandu will contest the April 11 assembly elections from Mukto, his home constituency in Tawang district, bordering China.
Since 2004 assembly elections, the Mukto seat has a history of MLAs being elected without a contest.
Khandu, heading a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government since December 2016, was elected unopposed from the constituency in 2014 and had no rival in the 2011 by-election as well.
The death of his father and former chief minister Dorjee Khandu in a helicopter crash in April 2011 had necessitated the by-poll.
The senior Khandu too was elected unopposed from the Mukto seat in 1990, 2004 and 2009 on a Congress ticket.
The constituency is dominated by the Monpa community, who are followers of Buddhism.
The BJP on Sunday declared the names of candidates for 54 seats in the 60-member state Assembly.
Among the candidates, few are first timers while the names of several ministers, including Arunachal Pradesh Home Minister Kumar Waii ..