Ahead of 2019 Assembly polls, BJP-Shiv Sena cold war set to escalate
At a time when relations between the BJP and the Shiv Sena are strained, the two projects in the Konkan region — a stronghold of the Shiv Sena — are likely to escalate the cold war between the ruling partners.
The Union government’s act to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Saudi Arabia-based chemical giant Aramco for setting up a mega chemical refinery at Nanar in Ratnagiri has left the Sena furious.
The party has been opposing the proposed refinery for a year, anticipating that the BJP would respect the locals’ strong sentiments against displacement. However, the MoU has come as a blow to the party.
A furious Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray lambasted chief minister Devendra Fadnavis for “breaching trust” of the locals. Fadnavis had assured that the project would not be thrust upon the people if they opposed it.
“This is cheating with the people of Maharashtra. The project going ahead indicates that the CM’s word is not valued by the Union government,” Thackeray said. He asserted that the Shiv Sena will not allow the project to come up at any cost. “We will never let this project get completed under any circumstance,” he said.
A joint venture by Hindustan Petroleum, Bharat Petroleum and Indian Oil Corporation, the proposed 60 million tonnes (per annum) capacity refinery will be the biggest in the world, and will cost Rs 2 lakh crore to build. The project will gobble up 16,000 hectares of land, which is at the heart of the locals’ agitation.
The refinery project, spread across 14 villages that have been declared an "industrial zone" under the Maharashtra Industrial Development Act, requires the complete displacement of five villages and partial relocation in the others.
As if this is not enough, the Fadnavis government has been pushing for Jaitapur nuclear power project, another controversial project to be set up by a French entity, in the same district. Shiv Sena, which is leading an agitation against the 10,000MW power project, has questioned the safety of the project. “A nuclear accident could be fatal for lakhs of people,” says its local MP Vinayak Raut.
A meeting between representatives of French state-controlled utility EDF and the CM opened a new window for the Jaitapur project. During the meeting EDF, which has taken over the controversial company Areva, argued that its nuclear reactor is safe and has been tested at an undisclosed plant in Europe.
They also invited the government officials to visit the plant and inspect its safety. They claim that the reactor has been designed taking lessons from the nuclear accident at Fukushima, Japan in 2011, which had adverse impact on the locals’ health.
The land acquisition for the Jaitapur project is almost over. The residents were opposing the project because Areva’s design of nuclear reactor was untested. Shiv Sena is likely to continue its opposition to the project in view of the Lok Sabha and Legislative Assembly elections in 2019.
(Courtesy of Mail Today)