Apang, his MLAs to join BJP

The highcommand has decided to send vice-president Pyarelal Khandelwal to Itanagar tomorrow to oversee the merger. He will be assisted by general secretary V. Satish, in-charge of the North-East, who is already camping at the Arunachal capital.

BJP president M. Venkaiah Naidu announced the party’s decision following a meeting of senior party leaders at the residence of Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee. ‘‘We have decided to set in motion the process of completing the formalities of the merger,’’ Naidu said.

Naidu added that 40 MLAs had written to him expressing their desire to join the BJP. They included Apang (lone member of the Arunachal Congress), 36 defectors from the Congress who had formed the Congress (D), one unattached member and two Independents.

The Assembly has a strength of 60. Of the 37 Congress(D) members, only one, Fisheries Minister J.P. Takam, has decided not to join the BJP.

Apang had met Naidu at the party headquarters here last week to discuss the modalities for the merger. He had also participated in the NDA meeting before the Lok Sabha took up the no-confidence motion against the Vajpayee Government. The BJP decided to keep the issue of merger in abeyance in view of the motion. The party leadership anticipated a frontal attack from the Congress, angered over the fall of its government led by Mukut Mithi.

Congress spokesman Satyavrat Chaturvedi had accused the BJP of engineering defections from his party. Congress president Sonia Gandhi had also attacked the BJP on the count saying that it was ‘‘playing with fire’’. Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani had, however, denied the charge, contending that the Congress had formed its government through defections and if it fell in the same manner, there was nothing that the BJP could do. Parliament session over, it was, therefore, time for the BJP to act now.

Asked about the Congress allegation of the BJP hand in the destabilisation of the Mithi Government, Naidu said: ‘‘They did not sermonise when 12 BJP MLAs in Chhattisgarh were made ministers by Chief Minister Ajit Jogi. The Arunachal MLAs have joined our party owing to disillusionment with the Congress.’’