He was a soldier before he was a politician, and a people’s man long after he stopped being either. On Tuesday, the Arunachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly paused its regular proceedings to honour the memory of former MLA Talong Taggu — a man whose life reads like a quiet chapter from the state’s founding story.
Taggu passed away on March 19 at his residence in Aalo, after battling prolonged illness. He was gone for nearly six months before the House formally rose in his memory — but when it did, the weight of the occasion was unmistakable.
Assembly Speaker Tesam Pongte led the obituary reference, and his words carried more than ceremonial warmth. He described Taggu as a “kind-hearted person” and a dedicated public representative whose imprint on Arunachal Pradesh’s early democratic and administrative journey would not fade easily. “The state has lost a great leader,” Pongte said, and from the way ministers and sitting MLAs followed with their own remembrances, it was clear this wasn’t just a routine tribute.
What came through in those remembrances was something that doesn’t always survive decades in public life — the image of a man who worked beyond the boundaries of electoral politics. Taggu was described repeatedly as a social worker and a reformer. Not just someone who won a seat, but someone who used it.
His path to the Assembly was anything but conventional. Born in Molong village, Taggu first made his mark not in politics but in uniform. He served in the Assam Rifles, eventually retiring with the rank of Subedar Major — a rank that speaks to discipline, dedication, and years of service to the nation. When he returned to civilian life, he didn’t step away from public responsibility. Instead, he stepped into it differently.
In 1969, he became vice-president of the Along North Zilla Parishad, a position he held for eight years. Grassroots leadership, long before it became a talking point. Then in 1980, he secured a seat in the Arunachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly from the erstwhile Along North constituency on a Congress ticket. The region wasn’t easy to serve, and development in those years required more than political will — it required personal presence.
During his tenure, the Yomcha sub-divisional headquarters was established in 1982. That single milestone meant connectivity, administration, and access for communities that had little of either. Educational and administrative initiatives followed. Things that don’t make headlines but change lives.
The Assembly observed a two-minute silence in his honour before conveying its condolences to his bereaved family. Two minutes can feel like nothing. In that chamber on Tuesday, it probably felt like an entire era passing through the room.
There’s something worth sitting with here. Talong Taggu came from service — military service — and carried that ethos into everything else he did. He didn’t chase politics; he answered a call. And when the Arunachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly stood in silence for him on September 8, 2026, it wasn’t just honouring a former MLA. It was honouring the kind of public servant the region rarely forgets — and increasingly, rarely produces.
