Anti-Nanar refinery project locals drum up political support
Mumbai, April 14: Days after Indian oil companies signed an agreement with Saudi Aramco for setting up the world's largest refinery complex at Nanar in Maharashtra's Ratnagiri, locals on Saturday started drummed up support from different political parties in a bid to stop the project.
The Konkan Refinery Shetkari-Machhimar Sangharsh Samiti (KRSMSS) and the Refinery Virodhi Sangharsh Samiti (RVSS) have met political leaders across the political spectrum to solicit support for the agitation against the project.
KRSMSS chief Bhai Samant and RVSS head Ashok Welam have called on Congress state President Ashok Chavan, Nationalist Congress Party President Sharad Pawar, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena President Raj Thackeray, besides meeting other leaders.
The anti-Nanar groups got a major boost two days ago when Shiv Sena President Uddhav Thackeray and Maharashtra Swabhiman Party President Narayan Rane - both constituents of the ruling NDA - openly attacked the project.
They also accused Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis of "treachery" and "going back on his word" as the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party kept mum on the issue.
Both Thackeray and Rane have made it clear that they would not permit the destructive project to come up under any circumstances, since the local people are against it.
On his part, Pawar has announced plans to visit Nanar on May 10, meet the villagers who will be affected, assess the ground realities and the implications of the proposed mega-project on the people and environment.
"The local people have given a very different picture than what the state government has claimed," Pawar told media persons on Saturday.
Endorsing the villagers struggle, Chavan said: "Development should have a humane face. If the locals are opposing it, there is no question of implementing it."
The protestors also secured the support of Raj Thackeray who gave them a sympathetic ear and promised to intervene.
Meanwhile, political sources said Fadnavis has reported expressed apprehensions that if the project is opposed and not allowed to come up in Maharashtra, then it may be shifted to adjoining Gujarat.
On April 11, a consortium comprising three major Indian oil marketing companies - IOCL, BPCL and HPCL signed a MoU with Saudi Arabian Oil Co, (Saudi Aramco), for setting up an integrated oil refinery and petroleum products complex in the eco-sensitive Ratnagiri.
When completed, the Rs 3 trillion complex at Nanar will be the world's biggest single-location oil refinery project with a capacity to process 60 million tonnes annually.
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False, outrageous: Chidambaram slams PM's 'Cong wanted to allocate 15 pc budget to Muslims' remark
New Delhi(PTI): Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram on Thursday termed "totally false" Prime Minister Narendra Modi's claim that the previous Congress government wanted to allocate 15 per cent of the budget for Muslims, and said the PM's statements have been "increasingly bizarre".
Chidambaram said the prime minister claimed on Tuesday that if he played the Hindu-Muslim divide, he would not be fit to be in public life but the very next day, "he played his usual game of dividing Hindus and Muslims".
"Hon'ble Prime Minister's statements are increasingly bizarre and show that his speech writers have lost their balance," the Congress leader said in a post on 'X'.
"The Hon'ble PM's accusation that Dr Manmohan Singh had drawn up a plan to spend 15 per cent of the Union Budget exclusively on Muslims is totally false. His further allegation that Congress will present a Muslim budget and a Hindu budget is so outrageous that it can be only characterised as a hallucination," the former finance minister said.
Article 112 of the Constitution of India contemplates only one Annual Financial statement, which is the Union Budget, Chidambaram said and asked how can there be two budgets.
"In the remaining days of the election campaign, it is my fervent hope that the Hon'ble PM will abandon the path of false accusations and outrageous claims," he said.
"Not only the Indian people, the world is watching and analysing the Indian prime minister's statements, and they do not bring glory to India," Chidambaram said.
Prime Minister Modi on Wednesday alleged that the Congress during its previous rule wanted to allocate 15 per cent of the government budget for Muslims, and vowed not to allow splitting of the budget or reservation in jobs and education on the basis of religion.
Addressing an election rally at Pimpalgaon Baswant in north Maharashtra's Nashik district, the PM said splitting the budget on religious lines was dangerous.
