Itanagar, Aug 29: The Arunachal Congress, of which Chief Minister Gegong Apang was the lone member in the 60-member house, today formally merged with the BJP. Speaker Setong Sena notified the merger under the tenth schedule of the constitution. BJP President M Venkaiah Naidu had announced on August 24 that 36 legislators of Congress(D), Apang's Arunachal Congress, two independents and an unattached member had applied for joining BJP. But 31 of the 38 Congress(D) legislators merged with BJP on August 26, while six others had unanimously elected J T Takam as their leader. Takam, the fisheries minister, originally elected on a NCP ticket, had refused to join the BJP.
The Apang led 42-member United Democratic Front alliance comprises BJP-32, Congress(D) - 6, two independents and an unattached member.

The Speaker had deserted the Mukut Mithi Congress government on July 27 along with 30 other MLAs, who subsequently formed the Congress (D) under former Congress minister Kameng Dolo. Bureau Report