Treasury bench members raised the Centre's direction on the Posco project in the assembly during the zero hour and condemned it.
Hitting out at the UPA government at the Centre for directing halt to work at Posco's project site, ruling BJD MLAs today accused the Congress of adopting 'double standards' on the implementation of the country's biggest FDI in Orissa.
Treasury bench members raised the Centre's direction on the Posco project in the assembly during the zero hour and condemned it. There was no MLA from the opposition side as they were boycotting the House.
"How can the Centre ask the state government to stop work after giving forest clearance to the Posco project?" senior BJD MLA Ananta Das said raising doubt over the intentions of the NC Saxena committee.
"It is a conspiracy against the state government, particularly against the Posco project," former minister Arabinda Dhali said while seeking a censure motion against the UPA government.
Alleging a conspiracy by some NGOs, the BJD MLAs dubbed the NC Saxena committee as a 'committee of NGOs'.
The Saxena committee, jointly formed by the ministry of environment and forest and ministry of tribal affairs, has held held that the state government had violated norms of the forest right act, 2006 while recommending Posco's proposal for forest land diversion.
The ministry of environment and forest issued the directive to the state government on the recommendation of the Saxena committee.
Another BJD member Pravat Tripathy said, "It is a conspiracy by Congress to ensure that the country's biggest FDI is not implemnted in Orissa."
Ersama-Balikuda MLA Prashant Muduli who represents the project area claimed that 95 per cent of the people were in favour of the project. "We should not stop the project to appease only 5% villagers."
Outside the House, Congress chief whip Prasad Harichandan, who along with other party MLAs have been sitting on a dharna near Mahatma Gandhi's statue in the assembly premises demanded chief minister Naveen Patnaik's resignation in view of Saxena committee detecting violation of the forest right act.
Harichandan asked how an elected government could violate the law of the land.
He said that the PMO and the planning commission were in favour of the Posco project.
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