Shiv Sena, the second largest party in the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), may very well walk protesting against the Narendra Modi-led NDA government.
The Project Affected People (PAP) of proposed Jaitapur Nuclear Power Plant (JNPP) in Maharashtra’s Ratnagiri district have invited the Sena to join the protest march against the central government to be held on January 25. This will be the first major agitation after a gap of over one year against the proposed nuclear plant.
“It’s a new government and we want to ensure that they know our opposition to the project very well. We are firm on the demand that the project should be scrapped,” said Amjad Borkar, a leader of fishermen in the Sakhri Natye village, which is adjacent to the 9900 MW power plant site.
“Sena has been with us from start and we have invited its leaders to join us in our protest march,” he said.
When contacted, local Sena MLA Rajan Salvi said that he is yet to receive any official invitation from the villagers. “We will go with them after we discuss the nature of the protest,” he told The Hindu over phone. Another senior Sena leader however said that joining agitation now would mean protesting against our own government. “A decision will have to be taken carefully,” he said.
Sena president Uddhav Thackeray has already clarified that his party opposes the project since the people of the region are against it. Sena MLC and Maharashtra’s Environment Minister Ramdas Kadam too have reiterated it recent times, after joining the state government.
However, the BJP is firm on taking the project ahead. According to news reports, immediately after the taking charge of the government, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had assured the visiting French Foreign Minister that there will be no rethink on the proposed nuclear power plant, despite opposition.
Areva, the French firm has entered in to an early work contract with the Nuclear Power Corporation India Limited (NPCIL) to set up six European Pressurised Reactors (EPR) with each of a capacity of 1650 MW. However, the project hasn’t moved ahead due to united protests by the PAPs from last five years. At the same time, the NPCIL and Areva have failed to seal a commercial contract.
