Arunachal Pradesh trust vote today; trouble for CM Nabam Tuki as Kalikho Pul claims support of 43 MLAs

Itanagar: Nabam Tuki, who was reinstalled as Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister on Wednesday, will have to take the floor test on Saturday as directed by Governor Tathagata Roy.

Tuki met Governor Tathagata Roy on Friday and sought ten days time to prove his majority in the house but a Raj Bhavan statement later made it clear that the floor test has to be held on Saturday only as slated.

Tuki is believed to not having numbers to prove his majority in the Assembly. The numbers game did not appear to favour Tuki since ousted chief minister Kalikho Pul, who is backed by Bharatiya Janata Party, has claimed the support of 43 MLAs, including 11 BJP and two independent members, in the 60-member Assembly.

In obedience of the Supreme Court judgment on Wednesday, Roy has reinstated Tuki as the Chief Minister of the state and asked him to call a session of the state legislative assembly on Saturday (July 16) to prove his majority.

In the Arunachal Pradesh assembly, there are 30 Peoples' Party of Arunachal Pradesh (PPA) members, 11 of the BJP, 15 of the Congress and two Independents. Pul claims that he has the support of 29 PPA legislators, 11 BJP and two Independent legislators.

Congress criticised the acting Arunachal Governor for rejecting Tuki's plea for more time to prove his majority saying he cannot unilaterally convene an assembly session on his own.

Congress government fell in January after the controversial role played by then governor JP Rajkhowa.