1980 Arunachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly election

The second elections to the Arunachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly were held on 3 January 1980.[1][2] The election was held simultaneously to the 1980 Lok Sabha election.[2] 30 seats were up for election. A total of 95 candidates contested; 28 from the Indian National Congress (Indira), 28 from the People's Party of Arunachal, 11 from the Indian National Congress (Urs) and 28 independents.[1] The PPA candidate in the Niausa Kanubari constituency, Wangnam Wangshu, was elected unopposed.[1]

INC(I) won 13 seats (with 72,734 votes, 42.58%). The PPA also won 13 seats, with 70,006 votes (40.98%). The remaining four seats went to independents. In total independent candidates mustered 19,716 votes (11.54%). INC(U) failed to win any seats. The party obtained 8,361 votes (4.89%).[1] For the first time a woman, Nyari Welly, was elected to the Assembly.[3] After the election there were massive defections to the INC(I).[4] Gegong Apang was elected Chief Minister after the election.[5]