Congressmen try to stop Jaitapur meet, caned

Two days after disrupting the annual meeting of several NGOs in Ratnagiri, Congress goons struck again on Tuesday, when CPI (M) general secretary Prakash Karat and CPI leader D Raja visited the project-affected areas of the proposed 9,900 MW Jaitapur Nuclear Power Project (JNPP).

Around 60 Congress activists were arrested, as the police had to resort to lathi charge on the crowd gathered outside the city library to stop Karat and Raja from delivering speeches.

“Outsiders are coming here and are spoiling the city’s peace. Karat went to the villages and met the villagers. It is nothing but a publicity stunt,” said Sameer Zari, president, Youth Congress, Ratnagiri.

“Did they say the same thing about Rahul Gandhi when he went for a padyatra in UP? Instead of such cheap acts, the Congress should consider peoples’ opinion about the project, “ said Kiran Moghe, state committee member of CPI (M).