DIMAPUR, OCTOBER 29 (MExN): The Rising Peoples’ Party (RPP) today stated that it will not allow a “toothless” UDA government to impose an “advisory system” in the Urban Local Bodies (ULBs).
A press release from the RPP said that the recent decision of the government to forgo ULB elections and instead nominate members to all the municipal bodies and town councils in the state is “totally condemnable.” “The government’s troubleshooter Neiba Kronu should understand that this decision is not only unconstitutional and undemocratic but it also reeks of cowardice and surrendering,” the party said.
There is no such thing as power without accountability and the decision to nominate members to the ULBs or the government’s high sounding 70:30 ratio for women does not convince anyone, the RPP said. It termed this move by the government as a “charade” to “reward party faithful and cronies alike before the assembly elections of 2023.”
The RPP further stated that this move is a “conscious decision to loot the ULBs, to get their hands on the so-called toll tax pie, which for the DMC is to the tune of Rs. 1 Crore (approx) per month.”
“While the entire toll-tax ecosystem as prevalent in DMC is questionable, there’s no doubt that the huge revenue accrued is utilized to maintain the office of the DMC and for the salary upkeep of close to 400 employees, including sanitation workers,” the RPP pointed out.
It said that if the nominated members or the advisors “manage to squeeze their way into the ULBs, particularly DMC, the entire ecosystem will collapse and Dimapur will suffer particularly.” The DMC, it claimed, will be bankrupt, unable to pay even the basic salaries of its employees, let alone manage waste.
The RPP meanwhile said that on June 11, 2012, the State Vigilance Commission had raided the DMC “citing huge misappropriation right after the Advisors had demitted office.”
“It’s another matter that the issue was hushed up through direct intervention from upstairs. Should the Minister care, he should find out at whose behest the corruption scam involving seizure of huge numbers of SUVs was hushed up. Dimapur and the other ULBs are not political playgrounds for the ruling government to toy around with at will,” it added.
The RPP challenged the ruling parties to conduct free and fair elections.
