BJP candidate Nabam Rebia files nomination for RS seat in Arunachal Pradesh

BJP nominee Nabam Rebia on Monday filed his nomination papers for the lone Rajya Sabha seat in Arunachal Pradesh, election for which will be held on June 19, a senior official at the state election office here said. Rebia, who was nominated by the partys central election committee on Sunday as the candidate for the biennial elections to the Upper House of Parliament, submitted his papers to Assembly Secretary K Habung, who has been appointed as the returning officer by the Election Commission, Joint Chief Electoral Officer D J Bhattacharjee said.

While polling would be held on June 19, if required, the last date of filing nominations has been fixed on June 9 and scrutiny of papers would be held on June 10, Bhattacharjee said. The last date of withdrawal of papers has been fixed on June 12.

The election process should be completed by June 22, the notification said. Rebia, who represented the state in the Rajya Sabha for two consecutive terms from 1996 to 2002 and 2002 to 2008 as a Congress candidate, had also served the state as Speaker and cabinet minister.

He was the Speaker in the Nabam Tuki-led Congress government and later served as the Urban Development, Town Planning, Housing, Urban Local Bodies and Law and Justice minister in BJP-led Pema Khandu government. The Election Commission of India on June 2 had issued notification for holding elections to the lone Rajya Sabha seat in Arunachal Pradesh which will fall vacant on June 23.

Mukut Mithi of the Congress is the incumbent Rajya Sabha MP from the northeast state whose tenure will end on June 23. The 60-member Arunachal Pradesh assembly has 41 BJP MLAs followed by seven Janata Dal United (JDU) members, Congress and National Peoples Party (NPP) four each, Peoples Party of Arunachal 1 and three independents.

The JDU and the NPP are supporting the Pema Khandu- led BJP government..