Cong, Sena trade charges over Jaitapur N-plant

MUMBAI: The Congress has taken note of the political moves initiated by Shiv Sena executive president Uddhav Thackeray in the region by supporting the people agitating against the Jaitapur nuclear power plant.
Apart from his opposition to the project, Uddhav has said that the Sena has mustered support against the project in the entire region and would politically eliminate the Congress which is insisting on implementing the project.
CM Prithviraj Chavan has made it a prestigious project and has linked Maharashtra's overall development to it. He visited the project site to persuade the people to support the project by promising proper compensation, speedy rehabilitation and strict safety norms in the wake of the Fukushima N-plant disaster in Japan after the tsunami. He was accompanied by industries minister Narayan Rane. Rane has been campaigning in favour of the nuclear project and has aligned himself with the CM.
Uddhav hit out at both for "ignoring the people's sentiment and not taking a lesson from what has happened in Japan".
MPCC president Manikrao Thakre has also hit out at Uddhav for using "unparliamentarily" language while attacking the CM and hoped that the Sena would not resort to such kind of cheap gimmicks to politicize the fate of a major project. He recalled that the Shiv Sena-BJP had announced to trounce the Enron power project when they were in the opposition but did not hesitate to renegotiate with the same company to start the project. "Everybody knows what kinds of compromises were made," he said.
The Congress has launched a campaign in favour of the project saying that it will help to reduce the gap in the state between demand and supply of power in the state. If Maharashtra wants to maintain its No. 1 position in industrial production, then the sate must enhance its power generation, the party said.
Rane has also hit out at the Sena for opposing the power project which will boost employment in the backward region of Konkan and also generate several opportunities of self-employment
MPCC hopes the Opposition would extend positive cooperation for speedy development of the state and not play "petty politics" in opposing the vital infrastructure projects.