Giants like Gegong Apang tumbled like cards. A renewed threat from China became a major issue. Rains almost played spoilsport, preventing both Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi from campaigning. Yet Dorjee Khandu, a Monpa tribal born in March 1955 at Gyangkhar, a remote village bordering China, and a person who studied only up to Class VIII, and that too in Bhoti language, has managed to win the elections for his party quite comfortably.

Congress under Khandu has won 42 seats, more than two-third, in the 60-member Assembly, of which three including him were elected unopposed. And this victory (compared to only 34 in 2004 under Apang) acme despite the fact that several giants like Apang have lost.

Khandu probably made a different impact among the voters for whom Apang had become too common a face with nothing new to offer. Khandu, who replaced Apang in April 2007, came up with several sweeping reforms, which included revamping the public distribution system, a welfare scheme that had landed up in a massive scam under Apang.

Khandu also revived the Arunachal Pradesh Rural Bank, which too had almost ended up in a scam, and then had the blessings of the UPA government, more particularly Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who in January 2008 announced a massive economic package for the state.

“The prime minister’s package worked like magic. It has already started impacting the lives of the people. Roads have improved, communication has become better, and education has received a major boost across the state,” Khandu said.

... contd.