Arunachal Pradesh, India

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has emerged victorious in 10 Arunachal Pradesh assembly seats even before voting in the upcoming polls. This comes as the party faced no rivals on five of these seats while nominations were withdrawn on the remaining five seats. This is seen as a major stride for the party in the region but this is not something new as the state has a history of uncontested electoral triumphs.

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With the polling scheduled for April 19 in the Arunachal Pradesh assembly elections, the BJP was fielding candidates in all 60 Assembly constituencies, with 10 of them now having already won. 

Meanwhile, the Congress fielded 34 candidates, National People’s Party (NPP) 29, while NCP and the Peoples’ Party of Arunachal (PPA) have nominated 17 and two candidates respectively. 

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The last day for nominations withdrawal is Saturday (Mar 30).  

With no rivals, BJP's success was unchallenged. However, the previous record is still being held by Congress which in 2014 won 11 seats without contesting elections. 

The most prominent faces who were among the uncontested winners on Saturday (Mar 30) were Chief Minister Pema Khandu from Mukto as well as Deputy Chief Minister Chowna Mein from Chowkham.

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Chief Minister Khandu attributed the victories to the people's trust in Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's guarantee and the BJP's commitment to state development.

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“We are confident that we will win the Arunachal East and Arunachal West Lok Sabha seats with a thumping majority because of the amount of love that we are getting from the people,” he added. 

Among the others who won include Chowna Mein, Dongru Siongju, Ratu Techi, Techi Kaso, Hage Appa, Jikke Tako, Nyato Dukam, Mutchu Mithi and Dasanglu Pul.  

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BJP's alliances have also consolidated its position ahead of the assembly polls. Two National People’s Party (NPP) members as well as three Congress Member of Legislative Assembly (MLAs) recently joined hands with the saffron party. 

Notably, four candidates won unopposed in 1999, one in 2004, three in 2009, 11 in 2014, and three in 2019.

(With inputs from agencies)