Shiv Sena to intensify anti-Jaitapur stir

A day after warning its ally BJP not to "impose" the Jaitapur nuclear power plant on Maharashtra, the Shiv Sena on Thursday decided to intensify the agitation against the upcoming 9,900 MW project in coastal Ratnagiri.

Party president Uddhav Thackeray met senior party leaders and state ministers at his residence to chalk out the future strategy on the issue which it has been opposing since the past several years.

The development came barely 24 hours after the party MPs met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on Wednesday and expressed their opposition to the project.

According to reports, Modi is understood to have asked them to support the JNPP in the interest of development and foreign investment.

But the party, which is a coalition partner of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) both in the centre and the state, remained adamant on its stand.

"Now, we have decided to intensify the agitation against JNPP," party MP Arvind Sawant told media persons after the meeting with Thackeray.

On Wednesday, Yuva Sena chief Aditya Thackeray, in a series of tweets had urged the BJP not to "impose" the project on the people of state.

State cabinet minister Ramdas Kadam said the Sena delegation which met Modi explained how the project would be an ecological disaster and had aroused stiff resentment of the local farmers and fisherfolk.