BJP demands cancellation

The Opposition BJP has demanded the cancellation of the pact, warning the government of dire consequences if it proceeds with renewal of the agreement with the South Korean steel major.

The BJP's warning has come on the eve of the Assembly session which takes off on Tuesday.

Incidentally, June 22 is the day when the MoU with Posco India expires. Posco India had signed the MoU with the state government in June 2005. “The MoU with Posco should not be renewed at any cost as the project is coming up on fertile land and it will prove to be disastrous for the farmers of the area. The state government will face dire consequences if it renews the MoU with the company”, senior BJP leader Bijoy Mohapatra told reporters here.

Posco has not made any progress after the signing of the MoU and there is no merit in renewing the agreement, he reasoned.

The state government's move to hand over Khandadhar mines to Posco for extracting iron ore and allowing it to draw water from Jobra barrage near Cuttack would be opposed tooth and nail by the BJP, Mohapatra asserted.

Accusing Posco Pratirodh Sangram Samiti (PPSS), the anti-Posco outfit, of double standards, he stated, by giving its consent to the survey, PPSS has clearly shown it is ready for setting up of the plant in the area.

On the controversial Vedanta University Project (VUP), he said, “The state government has not taken any action against the errant officials involved in the irregularities in land allotment to the VUP for the past three months despite the instructions of the Lokpal. This is a blatant violation of the constitutional provisions”