Arunachal: PAJSC names Techi Rana as its official candidate for West Lok Sabha constituency

The Pan Arunachal Joint Steering Committee (PAJSC) which is spearheading the infamous paper leakage scam in Arunachal has named one of its members, Techi Rana, as its official candidate for the Arunachal West Lok Sabha constituency to challenge Union Minister Kiren Rijiju. 

The PAJSC also announced its intention to soon form a political party that will recruit leaders committed to issue-based politics.

Speaking to reporters, Techi Rana said the PAJSC had waited a long time for opposition parties in the state to address the failure of the state government to resolve the Arunachal Pradesh Public Service Commission (APPSC) cash-for-job scam. Surprisingly, no political leaders either raised the issue or approached the committee. The main reason for contesting in the parliamentary election, he said, is to be the voice of youths.

Rana emphasised the need for political power to address the APPSC cash-for-job scams, which was one of the reasons for contesting in the Lok Sabha polls. He also informed that he filed a nomination for the Arunachal East Lok Sabha seat but was rejected.

"I have filed my nomination as an independent candidate and will not be in alliance with any other political parties. I am very clear with my objective and shall continue with it," he said, adding that his involvement in politics is also to ensure the issue remains alive after the assembly election.

Rana said if the state government wanted, the APPSC issue could have been resolved much earlier. This clearly indicates the leaders are less interested in issue-based politics but more into personal benefits.

Besides the APPSC job scam, Rana also assures the people to push the amendment of Article 371 (H), prevailing corruption in the state and the much-talked refugee issue.

Meanwhile, PAJSC vice-chairman, Tadak Nalo said that the decision to jump into the political arena was not easy and had to go through a series of meetings. He said that the committee believes that the issue raised by the PAJSC can only be met by political power.

He said that despite the passage of almost 2 years since the APPSC cash-for-job scam, there has been no development despite repeated assurance by the state government.

“Now to make a change, we had to change our approach. Lately, we believe that the change in a system can only happen being part of the system. Therefore, the PAJSC, despite being a non-political organisation, has declared to jump into politics,” he said.

Furthermore, he said that whatever may be the result in the election, there is no option to quit the fight against the “biggest scam” of the state.

“Moreover, there is no political will of the leaders to voice against the scam. Also, there is not a single leader who brought up the matter. Hence, with no option left, the PAJSC decided to get involved in the political arena,” he added.