Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], Sept. 18 : The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has blamed the sheer deficit of 'leadership' with the Congress party as the key reason behind the collapse of the latter's government in Arunachal Pradesh, and added that the entire situation is a clear case of people jumping off a sinking ship.

Speaking to ANI here, BJP leader Sambit Patra, said, "Several leaders have always asked for appointments from Rahul Gandhi seeking an opportunity, but he has always declined to meet them, and the consequences are quite visible. This is a classic case of people jumping out of a sinking ship."

Earlier, Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu said the decision to resign from the Congress along with 42 MLAs was unanimous, and added that the aspirations of the people of state is very regional in character and it was necessary to have a synergy between the two.

"It was a unanimous decision of all the Congress legislators to merge with the regional political party, Peoples Party of Arunachal (PPA)," Khandu said in a statement.

"We must face the fact that the aspirations of the people of Arunachal Pradesh are very high and these aspirations are very regional in character. The politics of the state has, therefore, to be in tune with the aspirations of our people all of us, in the true spirit of Team Arunachal," he added.

This is the second time in seven months that the PPA has been gifted a government in the frontier state.

In the 60-member House with an effective strength of 58, the Congress had the support of 47 MLAs, including two Independents, while Opposition BJP has 11 members.

Khandu was sworn-in as the ninth Arunachal Chief Minister on July 17.

In a dramatic turnaround in this land-locked state on July 16, Congress replaced Nabam Tuki by choosing Khandu as the new Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader, who staked claim to power on the basis of support of 45 party MLAs along with two Independents.
(ANI)