Gegong Apang, leader of the newly-formed United Democratic Front, on Monday met Arunachal Pradesh Governor V C Pande at the Raj Bhavan in Itanagar and paraded 42 legislators, including himself, while staking claim to form the government.
The meeting lasted for about 90 minutes but the governor did not specify whether he would ask Congress Chief Minister Mukut Mithi to resign or prove his majority in the House.
In Delhi, the political developments in Arunachal Pradesh caused a ruckus in the Rajya Sabha when angry Congress and other opposition members clashed with those from the ruling benches, forcing adjournment of the House for half an hour.
During Zero Hour, the opposition charged an insurgent outfit with whom the National Democratic Alliance government was holding peace negotiations of destabilising the Congress government in the sensitive border state.
Raising the issue, senior Congress member Arjun Singh alleged, "A subtle and very sinister game is being played in the most sensitive area of the Northeast. The prime minister should be aware of what his colleagues were up to in that area to gain a political advantage."
The instability in the state gains added importance owing to certain recent actions of a neighbouring country, Singh said.
His Congress colleague Pranab Mukherjee said the formation of a new government could not be decided in the governor's drawing room but on the floor of the House.
Vehemently rejecting the charge as 'baseless and objectionable', Parliamentary Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj assured the members that Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee would respond to their sentiments in his reply during a debate in the House on his visit to China.
Vajpayee had earlier made a statement on his China visit, but the clarifications were skipped as the government later agreed to a full-fledged debate on the issue.
