Opinion Forty Years Ago, November 1, 1979: Arunachal CM Quits

The Indian Express front page, November 1, 1979.

The 43-day-old Arunachal Pradesh Ministry, headed by Tomo Riba, resigned after five party legislators defected to the Congress (I), reducing it to a minority status. In his resignation letter to Lt Governor R N Haldipur, the chief minister said that in view of the political turmoil that had developed since October 30, the cabinet rmd decided to tender its resignation forthwith. Riba also conveyed to the LG his cabinet’s decision to recommend the dissolution of the Assembly and holding of fresh elections. Mr Haldipur, while accepting the resignation of the Riba Ministry, has asked it to continue in office till alternative arrangements are made.

MP Janata crisis

Things are hotting up in Madhya Pradesh. The dissidents in the ruling party are making a determined bid to dislodge chief minister V K Saklecha from power. Some senior ministers and dissident MLAs are learnt to have met the state Janata party chief,, Kushabhau Thakre and threatened to resign if the leadership was not changed, ignoring the wishes of the majority of partv members. The dissident ministers, all of whom, interestingly, belong to the erstwhile Jana Sangh constituent, reportedly met at a dinner at the house of Jagdish Gupta, state minister for labour and resolved to submit their resignations en masse if the leadership was not changed before the Lok Sabha elections.

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Hua meets Thatcher

From all accounts, Chinese leader Hua Guofeng’s visit to London so far has been successful. While it is too early to say what exactly transpired between him and Prime Minister Margret Thatcher, Chinese sources have not tried to hide their admiration for the latter’s understanding of international politics and to say that there were “similarities of views on many matters between the two leaders”. Hua and Mrs Thatcher, according to British sources, discussed east-west relations and the overall world situation.