Nanar: Oppn, Sena put BJP in minority, spot
Assembly brought to a halt for second day in a row; Council adjourned over issue
ment will not impose the project on the people or that the project will be shifted elsewhere. In any case, ahead of an election year, given the opposition of the locals against the project, we have to take an aggressive stance,” said a senior Sena leader and minister, who did not want to be named.
In both the state Assembly and the Council, the Sena legislators demanded that the project be scrapped.
The pressure may force the state to look for an alternative site for the project along the west coast, but this is easier said than done.
“The CM can’t scrap the Centre’s project, so he is in a bind. He will continue to say the project will not be forced on people. In any case, the land acquisition procedure has been unofficially stayed from the time the industries minister spoke of denotifying the project,” said a senior BJP leader, adding that offering an alternative site was not feasible. Earlier in the day, the state Assembly witnessed five adjournments over the project with both the Sena and Congress legislators protesting against the project in the well of the House and shouting slogans. Leader of Opposition in the Assembly Radhakrishna Vikhe-patil demanded the day’s proceedings be kept aside, unless the government announces scrapping of the project.
The Ratnagiri Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited, a consortium of Indian Oil companies, signed a memorandum of understanding with Saudi oil giant Aramco for developing this project in April, even as Fadnavis had said the project would not move forward without taking the locals into confidence. One of the two organisations of the project-affected persons, Konkan Refinery Virodhi Sangharsh Samiti, had camped outside the Vidhan Bhavan on Wednesday.