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Jaitapur N-plant: Local BJP toes Shiv Sena line

The BJP is divided over the nuclear power plant at Jaitapur in Konkan region.

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The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is divided over the nuclear power plant at Jaitapur in Konkan region. While the top leadership of the party has given its consent to nuclear power projects in principle, the local leadership in the state has extended support to the agitation in Jaitapur.

BJP leaders who represent the Konkan region firmly believe that the project would prove detrimental to coastal Konkan. Their argument is that any project that is thrust on the people is bound to spell disaster. And in this particular case, it is more likely to be so considering local issues, they say.

Unlike the Shiv Sena, which has renewed its pledge to thwart the project at any cost, the BJP appears less aggressive on streets. But the cadre in Konkan is silently extending its support to the anti-Jaitapur movement which also includes various NGOs across the state.

Senior BJP leader Madhav Bhandari said, “The party is not against power projects. Sensing the strong sentiments among the people in Konkan, the party has given its consent to them to voice their concerns over the nuclear plant,” said senior party leader Madhav Bhandari, adding: “What has irked the locals is the high-handedness of the government which has taken them for granted. The pre-project work that should have been carried out to take the people into confidence and also work out their concerns related to their rehabilitation and future has been completely ignored.”

A resident of Deogad in the Konkan region, Bhandari further said: “Konkan being an ecologically sensitive zone, its people cannot be expected to support such projects. People fear they would be rendered landless and jobless over the years if their traditional farming and horticulture businesses are affected.” According to Bhandari, “The moot question is why all the projects that spell disaster are installed in Vidarbha and Konkan. Why haven’t they taken the nuclear project in Baramati, the home town of NCP president Sharad Pawar and deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar? Or why has chief minister Chavan not lobbied for nuclear power plants in western Maharashtra?”

Every power project had been pushed into Vidarbha and Konkan. It showed these leaders were treating these two regions as their colonies, Bhandari said.

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