PTI
ITANAGAR, OCTOBER 19
Congress candidate Gabriel Denwang Wangsu today won Kanubari Assembly seat in Arunachal Pradesh in a close contest defeating his lone rival Rongnai Maham of BJP by 885 votes in the October 15 by-poll.
Deputy Chief Electoral Officer DJ Bhattacharjee said Wangsu polled 5,231 votes and Maham 4,346 votes.
Journalist-turned-politician, Wangsu had contested unsuccessfully from the constituency in 2009 and 2014 as a People’s Party of Arunachal candidate and an Independent respectively.
The bye-election was held following the death of sitting Congress MLA Newlai Tingkhatra at Gurgaon on May 7, a month after the simultaneous state Assembly and Lok Sabha elections in the state and nine days before counting of votes. Tingkhatra had won the seat posthumously.
With Wangsu winning from the constituency, Congress has 42 MLAs now in the 60-member Assembly, while Opposition BJP has 11 legislators. Peoples Party of Arunachal has five members. There are two Independents.
Tuki congratulates Wangsu for by-poll victory
Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Nabam Tuki today congratulated Gabriel Denwang Wangsu on his victory in the by-poll to Kanubari assembly seat and thanked the electorate for choosing him.
“We are humbled by the faith reposed on our party by the people of Kanubari constituency and remain committed to fulfill all our promises enshrined in our election manifesto of 2014,” Tuki said in a statement here.
“This by-election was a litmus test for us and we have come through with flying colours,” he said.
Wangsu’s inclusion in the assembly will be an asset not only for Congress or Kanubari constituency but for the people of the state.
“For the first time in the history of Arunachal Pradesh, a learned, experienced and senior journalist of the state has made it to the assembly. While representing his constituency, the Congress party and the people, Wangsu will also represent the journalist fraternity of the state,” he added.
