CM Devendra Fadnavis firm on refinery project

Mumbai: Opposition from the Shiv Sena notwithstanding, Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis has decided to go ahead with projects such as the Nanar green refinery, Jaitapur nuclear power, and Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) does not believe that the Sena will withdraw its support to the government if the latter goes ahead with these projects.  

Mr Fadnavis has been wooing the Sena for the past few months, and tried to initiate dialogue about an alliance in the upcoming elections. However, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi is very keen about the Nanar, Jaitapur and bullet train projects,

Mr Fadnavis is unwilling to compromise on the same. Not surprisingly, despite Mr Fadnavis’ assurance to Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray that he would not go ahead with the Nanar project if there was opposition from the locals, the Union government recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with UAE-based company, Aramco.

The residents of Nanar told the Sena leadership not to visit the place if industries minister Subhash Desai did not cancel land acquisition for the refinery. Soon after, the Sena announced that land acquisition for the project had been cancelled only to have its claims refuted by Mr Fadnavis.

Similarly, despite a Sena delegation led by Mr Thackeray having met the Prime Minister to let him know about their opposition to the Jaitapur atomic energy project, it is already underway. Mr Fadnavis has deployed the same strategy for projects such as the bullet train and the Samruddhi corridor. And now he has decided not to give any importance to the Sena and go ahead with major projects as per BJP’s policy. According to a senior BJP leader, Mr Fadnavis is confident that the Sena will never withdraw its support to the government.

The BJP leader told this newspaper that the Sena fears that if it withdraws support, the NCP might end up supporting the government or there may be a rift within the Sena itself. Hence, Mr Thackeray will never withdraw Sena support to the government.