Mumbai: A day after attacking the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray will join leaders of the Congress, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) on June 3 at Palghar, in a public meeting to oppose the Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train project. Organisations working against the bullet train in Gujarat and Maharashtra have called for the meeting in Palghar, and have invited all political parties, barring the BJP, to clarify their stand. The organisers confirmed to The Hindu that all leaders have accepted the invitations.
“Issues ranging from viability to the environmental impact to the opposition to land acquisition have been raised against the project,” Ulka Mahajan, social activist, and one of the organisers, said. “We have decided to invite all parties on a common platform.”
A fortnight ago, Ms. Mahajan and other activists met Mr. Thackeray, and he had confirmed he would attend.. Among other political leaders who will be addressing the public rally are Jairam Ramesh of the Congress, the NCP’s state unit head Jayant Patil, Ashok Dhavale of the CPI(M), Dhairyashil Patil of the Peasants and Workers Party, and Sharad Patil of the Janata Dal (Secular).
Among the other organisations and peoples’ movements organising the meeting under the banner, ‘Bullet Train Virodhi Janmanch’ are Gujarat Khedut Samaj and Environment Protection Committee, both from Gujarat, and from Maharashtra, Bhoomi Adhikar Andolan, Maharashtra Kisan Sabha and Kashtkari Sanghatana.
Ramakant Patil, convener of Janmanch, said, “Apart from the bullet train, tribal lands are set to be acquired for Wadhvan port, Delhi-Mumbai industrial corridor, and the Mumbai-Vadodara national highway. We expect the leaders to clarify their stand on these issues.”
