Maharashtra politics: Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut (UBT) on Wednesday revealed that Uddhav Thackeray, during his reign as Chief Minister, had suggested an alternative site at Barsu in the coastal Ratnagiri district for a refinery project. He also added that his party will support locals if they oppose it.
Speaking to the media, Raut slammed Maharashtra Industries minister Uday Samant and asked him to visit the site and talk to protesters instead of “flaunting” the letter written by Thackeray to Prime Minister Narendra Modi suggesting Barsu as an alternative site.
Earlier on Tuesday, April 25, Samant alleged “misunderstandings” were being deliberately created about the project for political mileage and slammed the “politics of double standards”, an apparent jibe at Uddhav Thackeray and his MLA-son Aaditya Thackeray, who handled the environment portfolio in the previous Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government (November 2019 to June 2022).
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If locals oppose, Shiv Sena will not back project: Raut
“Nanar site was opposed by locals and then Thackeray suggested that Barsu could be an alternative place. It is scrubland and that is right. But if locals oppose it, then Shiv Sena will not back the project. This is our political stand,” Raut said.
“As Chief Minister, Thackeray suggested an alternative land. At that time there must have been no opposition in Barsu. But now people are opposing this. If locals are of the opinion that they will die but won’t give their land, then the letter counts no value to us.”
Why big-ticket projects went out of Maharashtra, Raut asked Samant. On Tuesday, the Ratnagiri police arrested 111 people, most of them women, during a protest against the proposed petroleum refinery, an official said.
People protest in Barsu
More than 100 women were among the protesters who tried to block a road in Barsu and Solgaon areas of the district, around 400km from Mumbai, by lying on the ground to stop government vehicles from entering the proposed site of the refinery. The Shiv Sena (UBT) on Tuesday also decided to launch an agitation against the proposed oil refinery at Barsu amid the protests.
(With PTI inputs)
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