Sena ups the ante, Uddhav to lead morcha against Jaitapur plant

The Shiv Sena, which has also jumped on to the anti-Jaitapur nuclear power plant bandwagon, is committed to take their protest forward, albeit a little too late.

The Shiv Sena, which has also jumped on to the anti-Jaitapur nuclear power plant bandwagon, is committed to take their protest forward, albeit a little too late.

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The project has already got a go ahead from the Centre and is one of the main reasons for France President Nicolas Sarkozy’s visit to India as French company Areva will be implementing it.

Sarkozy and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, on Monday, signed agreements to the effect that have put an official stamp on the project.

“Shiv Sena executive president Uddhav Thackeray will be leading a morcha to Jaitapur after the winter assembly session gets over in Nagpur, later this month. If the villagers do not want it to happen, we will make sure that the project does not take off,” said senior Sena leader Subhash Desai, who led a delegation of 11 Sena MLAs to Jaitapur on Monday.

The Sena has declared its support to the local farmers, who are opposing the 9,900-megawatt nuclear power project proposed in the biodiversity rich Konkan belt.

The saffron party has been voicing its concern against the alleged government high-handedness in the case. In a statement issued in Sena mouthpiece Saamna on Monday, Thackeray said that if the project means destruction of livelihood of the farmers, who are sons of the soil in Konkan, the Sena would oppose the project vehemently.

Desai after meeting the villagers at Jaitapur said, “Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan has been saying that he brought this project to Jaitapur. If he was looking at development, why did he not take the project to Karad (Chavan’s hometown)? The proposal has come from Delhi, and we will parcel it back there.”