State Congress spokesperson Kon Jirjo Jotham linked the demand for answers to Rijiju’s recent criticism of Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi.
“Advice for the Opposition can wait. Answers for the people of Siang cannot,” Jotham said.
In a social media post on 4 November, Rijiju had said Gandhi should spend more time in India and stop meeting people he described as “anti-India” if the Congress wanted to increase its parliamentary strength.
The state Congress also sought Rijiju’s response to China’s repeated territorial claims over Arunachal Pradesh, its renaming of places and reported border concerns in the Taksing-Maza and Longju sectors.
Separately, it demanded an independent investigation into suspected irregularities in land compensation for the Arunachal Frontier Highway, particularly along the Lada-Chayangtajo stretch. The party sought verification of whether genuine landowners had received payments and whether influential individuals or intermediaries had benefited.
Gao’s support for the Siang project drew a separate challenge from the Congress, which questioned his declaration that the dam would be built. It said an elected representative belonging to the Adi community should address constituents’ grievances and protect their rights.
The party also raised concerns about reported security deployments, police action and detention of protesters, urging elected representatives to facilitate dialogue with villagers.
The criticism followed Gao’s remarks at a meeting in Tezu, Lohit district, on Monday, where he said the project would proceed “come what may”.
Defending the proposal, the Arunachal East MP argued that India needed a major dam on the Siang or Brahmaputra in response to China’s extensive hydropower development upstream. He described the project as important both for Arunachal Pradesh’s development and for India’s strategic interests.
Gao also said the proposal had been designated a national project in 2008 under then prime minister Manmohan Singh.
Accusing anti-dam protesters of harbouring political ambitions, he referred to the 23 October violence in Pasighat and said 92 people had been arrested, while more than 100 others were yet to be arrested.
With PTI inputs
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