Dimapur: The Rising People’s Party (RPP) on Thursday demanded that the Neiphiu Rio government in Nagaland take congnizance of the case filed against tourism and higher education minister Temjen Imna Along in Bombay High Court and drop him from the council of ministers.
In a statement, the RPP said it is most galling that the minister has termed a very serious fraud case for which he may be jailed as “normal business dispute.”
The party said Along’s fraud case involving Rs 125 crore had made national headlines but his utterance has trivialised cheating and fraud which is condemnable.
Along is a BJP MLA and was the former president of Nagaland BJP.
According to RPP, the stupendous silence of the state BJP in their refusal to bring their colleague to task showed their double standards as well.
Reminding the state BJP that the Narendra Modi-led government had called for a “corruption-free India,” the RPP said it, in order to justify this slogan, should have been the first to advise Rio to drop their minister.
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On the attachment of the properties of two Naga contractors allegedly involved in construction of the new Kohima High Court complex by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), the party said though laudable it is most overdue.
It added that for the first time the ED has taken cognizance of corruption in the state and the citizens of this harried state welcomed this news with jubilation.
The RPP requested the ED to carry this case involving 10 PWD engineers and six contractors to its logical conclusion.
It also strongly urged the chief minister to give persecution sanction to the CBI with regard to the involvement of 10 PWD officials in the new High Court complex case without further delay.
“Along with the six contractors, the 10-odd officers were implicated by the CBI but the refusal to give prosecution sanction by the Rio government gives the impression that the politicians fear implication as well,” the RPP said.
However, the party said, the long arm of the law cannot be evaded and that the Kohima High Court bench has been forced to intervene, meaning that the conscientious people of the state can breathe a sigh of relief.