The Rising People’s Party (RPP) has once again criticized the People’s Democratic Alliance (PDA) government, asserting that the monsoon season has exposed significant shortcomings in governance. According to the RPP, the roads in Dimapur have become “utterly unpliable” and a dengue epidemic is likely on the horizon due to flooding caused by the poor drainage system.
“Today, the biggest criminal syndicate in the state is a small cabal of politicians who controls almost all the resources of the state”
The RPP’s press statement highlighted that while road and infrastructure maintenance across the state has deteriorated, the PDA government appears to be focused on only two major projects: the establishment of Chiethu Airport and Nagaki City.
The RPP said that the maintenance of roads in urban areas, previously managed by the state Public Works Department (PWD), was quietly transferred to the Urban Development Department (UDD) a few years ago. The RPP claimed that the UDD is now solely concerned with Nagaki City, a project reportedly motivated by its enormous cost, which is said to be in the hundreds of crores.
The RPP also accused the PDA government of pursuing the Chiethu Airport project with “missionary zeal,” despite the Ministry of Civil Aviation having stated that the site is not feasible. The RPP has pointed out that while the government remains fixated on Chiethu, the existing airport and railway station in Dimapur are suffering from rampant encroachment. “The PDA government is urged to table a White Paper on the two encroached places in the upcoming NLA session scheduled for 27th August,” the RPP demanded.
According to sources cited by the RPP, those advocating for the Chiethu project have already invested crores in purchasing the proposed airport site, and a similar strategy is reportedly being used for the Nagaki City site.
“Today, the biggest criminal syndicate in the state is a small cabal of politicians who controls almost all the resources of the state,” the RPP claimed.
The RPP has further argued that this situation of resource and funding control has been made possible by the opposition-less government. “While the cabal plays with thousands of crores, the rest of the MLAs are only too happy with crumbs and JCBs,” the RPP asserted.
The party also criticized the formation of the Political Affairs Committee (PAC) by the PDA government, describing it as a “fraud called opposition-less government,” especially when all the MLAs nodded in agreement with the cabal’s suggestion.