Downsizing does Arunachal govt in

But sensing trouble, Apang immediately held an emergency meeting of his new Cabinet which recommended dissolution of the Assembly three months short of expiry of the House term. Around midnight, the Governor issued a notification dissolving the Assembly.

The CM thus managed to spoil the plans of the 29 axed ministers to topple his government. The group led by BJP leader Kameng Dolo was planning to meet the Governor today morning and project a new leader to replace Apang, sources said.

Sources in the BJP in Delhi said 8216;8216;everything went according to the script8217;8217;. They said the entire operation had been planned by Apang and the BJP high command two months ago. Since the party anticipated a revolt by disgruntled members after their exit from the ministry, Apang got the Budget passed last month, well before downsizing his team.

Apang, however, described the Governor8217;s recommendation for President8217;s Rule in the state as 8220;unwarranted and illegal8221;. 8221;The Governor has acted under duress,8221; Apang told a press conference.

He said he had sought an appointment with the Governor to request him to revoke his recommendation. Apang said there was hardly about one-and-a-half months were left for the elections and there was no business left in the House to be taken up. 8220;That is why the dissolution of the Assembly was justified under the framework of the Constitution,8221; he said.

Meanwhile, the Congress, which has been waiting in the wings with the memory of the toppling of the Mukut Mithi government in July last year fresh in their minds, was quick to demand the imposition of President8217;s Rule to scuttle Apang8217;s plan to run a caretaker government till the Assembly elections were over. Elections to the Assembly are due in less than three months, with the new Assembly required to be constituted by the middle of October.

The development has set off a series of realignments in the state. With the fear of disqualification gone after the Assembly8217;s dissolution, political leaders are bound to shift their loyalties according to their electoral compulsions. There is nothing new about this phenomenon in a region notorious for lack of political fidelity.

The Opposition, in the meantime, claimed today that most of the BJP MLAs who had been dropped in the downsizing exercise, including Congress D and a few unattached members, were ready to join the Congress.