With a cloud of uncertainty hanging heavy over the possibility of the Election Commission clearing the draft notification on the amended office memorandum on the Kasturirangan committee report on protecting the Western Ghats, the ruling UDF is on tenterhooks.
If the Election Commission clears the notification, it will be a matter of relief for the Congress leadership, which has been trying hard to convince the Kerala Congress(M) and diverse other sections that have taken a hard line stance over the panel report.
However, if that does not happen, it can prove an uphill task bringing the KC(M) back from the brink to which some of its leaders had taken the party over the past few days.
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Reports from Delhi seemed to suggest that the EC is taking a hard look at the pros and cons of permitting the government to notify the new norms exempting large tracts of farmland and populated areas from the category of Ecologically Sensitive Areas (ESAs) identified by the Kasturirangan panel.
From Kerala, the BJP has moved the Election Commission against granting clearance for the notification. So has some environment activist groups from elsewhere.
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