Former Arunachal Pradesh chief minister Kalikho Pul’s last note ‘Mere Vichaar’ (My Thoughts) was published by The Wire on February 8. The alleged note – thenewsmill.com couldn’t independently verify the authenticity of the note – talks big on corruption and implicates top politicians in the state.
The note, typed in Hindi and signed allegedly by Pul on each page, hits the nexus between politicians, judiciary and bureaucracy in the state.
The note starts with Pul’s early days of struggle – the death of his parents at his early age; working as a carpenter and night chowkidar. Pul described his upbringing as full of economical hardships.
The note further lists subheads which went on to describe the state of affairs in Arunachal Pradesh. Pul, through his alleged note, revealed corruption being the root cause of Arunachal’s lack of development. His prime targets included former chief minister late Dorjee Khandu, former chief minister Nabam Tuki, present chief minister Pema Khandu and present deputy chief minister Chowna Mein. The alleged note subheads the corruption charges on the top politicians of the state. One of the most detailed corruption charges against the mentioned included the PDS scam in the eastern state.
Besides the top politicians from the state, the Pul note also talked about lack of transparency in the Congress party and in more than one instance Pul alleged that “the high command expected him to make contributions to the party fund”. Some names and other details from the note released by thewire.in were blackened.
Pul’s note further highlighted that he was overwhelmed with the kind of support he was getting on the social media. A seasoned politician in the state, serving 23 years, Pul alleged that “the system” was against him while he made all efforts “to contribute towards the state’s progress”.
The Arunachal Times on February 9 reported that one of the employees, who worked in close proximity with late Pul, said that the signatures in the exposed notes seem to be that of Kalikho Pul’s. He acknowledged that a typist, who was appointed by Pul as his staff had helped in the Hindi typing. He has since left his job.
The report further said that no word was said by the Chief Minister’s Office and the Deputy Chief Minister’s Office on the note.
Former chief minister Nabam Tuki denied the allegations against him. “I do not agree with the allegations put forth by late Pul since it does not have an iota of truth and is rather baseless,” the former chief minister said.
Since The Wire published the Hindi version of the alleged note on its new Hindi website, and the subsequent release of the translation on the popular thewire.in, social media is abuzz discussing the contents of the note. While official comments from the chief minister and the deputy chief minister (who are implicated by late Pul in his strongly worded note) are awaited, the social media mill is busy churning facts and counter-facts.
It should be noted that Kalikho Pul was christened the “People’s chief minister” by the netizens who felt the politician was connected to the roots in-spite of having reached such heights in his political career. His surprise visits, active support to medical needs and people-connect programmes like the Janata Darbar were hits on the social media.
