Shiv Sena ups ante against Jaitapur nuclear project

Shiv Kumar

Tribune News Service

Mumbai, March 24

The Shiv Sena has intensified protest against the Jaitapur Nuclear Power Project (JNPP) with party workers in the Konkan region.

Shiv Sena senior leaders, led by local MLA Vinayak Raut, have taken out protest marches and party workers have effectively blocked workers of the Nuclear Power Corporation of India from moving out of their compound in the area, sources said.

Last weekend, the police detained Raut and others when they attempted to march to the project site, but were later released.

According to Shiv Sena leaders from Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg, local residents have started a boycott of NPCIL employees. Even local shopkeepers have refused to sell goods to them, according to party workers.

“The government can shift the power plant to Gujarat if they want,” Raut said at a rally last week.

On the other hand, the BJP governments at the state and the Centre insist that construction of the nuclear power plant will go ahead. Union Power Minister Piyush Goyal met with Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis recently to inquire into the progress made in acquiring land for the project.

Fadnavis is said to have warned the Shiv Sena leadership that the government would crack down on those holding protests against the Jaitapur plant.

While Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray has come out against the Jaitapur nuclear project, it is not clear whether he would jeopardise his party’s alliance with the BJP on this issue.