Oppose Jaitapur project more aggressively,Uddhav Thackeray tells Sena MPs

Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray on Thursday instructed the Shiv Sena MPs to launch a more aggressive agitation against the Jaitapur nuclear plant project. Thackeray's instructions came in the wake of prime minister Narendra Modi's statements supporting the project.

Thackeray held a meeting with all the MPs of his party, one day after prime minister Narendra Modi met with them. In both meetings, the Sena MPs expressed the Shiv Sena's opposition to the Jaitapur project. The Shiv Sena believes that the Jaitapur plant is going to ruin the Konkan region.

In response to the MPs' opinion, the prime minister had showed a readiness to discuss the Jaitapur issue with experts.

Thursday's meeting with Thackeray was attended by all the MPs and senior leaders including Sanjay Raut, Maharashtra minister for industries Subhash Desai, minister for environment Ramdas Kadam, minister for transport Diwakar Raote, veteran MP Anant Gite, Anil Desai, Chandrakant Khaire, Shivajirao Adhalrao-Patil, Arvind Sawant, Anand Adsul, Vinayak Raut, Rahul Shewale, Shrirang Barne, and Hemant Godse.

Speaking to mediapersons after the meeting, Arvind Sawant said that Shiv Sena had been opposing this project even during the Congress-NCP rule and would continue to do so. He said that following Thackeray's instructions, Shiv Sena would intensify its agitation against the Jaitapur plant.

The meeting also took stock of the strained relations between BJP and Shiv Sena, both at the Centre and in the state. It is learnt that Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray also held separate discussions with a few MPs and held a general meeting for about an hour. The reasons for the strained relations between the parties included Shiv Sena's opposition to the land acquisition bill, and its opposition to the Jaitapur project. These issues were also reviewed in the meeting and it was decided that even though Sena does not wish to leave either the state or the Union government at this juncture, the party would not dilute its stand on any of these issues.