ITANAGAR, 24 Nov: The People’s Party of Arunachal (PPA) issued a press release on Thursday, expressing displeasure over “the remarks made by the chief minister when questioned about the allegations of corruption against his office, during an interaction with media persons during field inspection of the under-construction stadium in West Siang HQ Aalo on 23 November.”
“The chief minister explicitly told the media persons that, since none of the MLAs in the legislative assembly has raised the question, he is not liable to answer, and that he will only answer when they raise the matter,” the party said.
“The PPA genuinely feels that such unrelenting attitude and tenor from a person holding the highest political office in the state is totally uncalled for. It doesn’t mean that, just because the MLAs are not raising the issue, any responsible individual(s) or organisation(s) cannot bring it in the public domain.
“New allegations of corruption in various departments under the state government, including the chief minister’s office, have been surfacing in the public domain with every passing day,” it said, adding that, “even if the intention of those individuals or organisations raising the matter is political, the serious charges of corruption cannot be overlooked.”
“The numerous litigations against the state government, including the APPSC paper leak fiasco and the APSSB issue, more or less point to the systematic rot and the politico-bureaucratic nexus in draining the state’s wealth and human talent,” the party said, and urged the chief minister to “come clean on the issue.”
“Terming every allegation levelled against the state government politically motivated is totally uncalled for. We exhort the state government, particularly the chief minister, to genuinely address and come clean on all the corruption allegations made by various organisations,” the PPA said.
It also urged the chief minister and his entourage, who are on a three-day official tour of West Siang district, to “initiate necessary action and physically access the progress and quality of the Pangin-Aalo road and Likabali-Basar-Aalo road, which is the lifeline of the people, not only from West Siang but also Siang, Lower Siang, Leparada and Shi-Yomi districts.”
“There is genuine public resentment against the ongoing road construction work, with regard to its quality and timely completion, which needs to be looked into at the earliest,” it said.
