The ruling Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP) hit back at the Nagaland Pradesh Congress Committee (NPCC) for criticising Nagaland chief minister Neiphiu Rio for presenting the current financial position of the state government to the people.
In a release on Friday, the media and communication committee of the NDPP said it was bemused at the attack on the sitting head of the state by the NPCC.
The NPCC on June 16 expressed shock that the chief minister instead of instilling confidence among the people caught in the nightmare of COVID-19 pandemic was talking about the state’s financial crisis and a bleak future at a press conference on June 15.
Instead of briefing about the state’s mounting deficit and a near empty state exchequer, Rio must rather tender apology to the people of Nagaland for landing the state in such a miserable position, the Pradesh Congress said.
The NDPP said the incumbent chief minister, also in charge of the finance department, has been discharging his duties and responsibilities by regularly bringing the financial condition of the government to the attention of the people through his press conferences.
The actions of the chief minister only displays his sincerity in running a transparent government and the people of the state have the right to know the current financial position of the government, the release said.
It is absurd that the NPCC should ridicule or attack the chief minister when he is dutifully serving the state by discharging his duties as a responsible leader.
“The NPCC should perhaps study the economies of the leading nations of the world before accusing the government of the day on the deficit of the state,” it said.
The NDPP said taking advantage of the Covid-19 crisis to attack the chief minister on the state’s deficit and economy is nothing less than hitting below the belt when the entire state machinery is tirelessly fighting this global pandemic on a war footing.
It said the NPCC without a single elected representative in the Assembly is trying to preach to those who are actually working for the welfare and uplift of the people and the economy of the state.
“It is not too long ago when the state under the leadership of the Nagaland Pradesh Congress was reeling in rampant corruption with the economy in doldrums,” the NDPP said.
It added that the NPCC should think twice before pointing fingers at others while licking their wounds for having been rejected by the people election after election.
The NDPP said the state government should in fact be commended for trying its best to provide maximum with the minimum it has at its disposal.