New Delhi: Environment Minister Jairam
Ramesh on Tuesday accused Shiv Sena of "politicising" the Jaitapur
Nuclear Power Plant issue and frequently changing its stand on
him on environmental issues.
"Shiv Sena has a long track record of politicising all
issues. This is the same Shiv Sena, which had vowed to throw
the Enron Project into the Arabian Sea in 1993, if I recall
right. But when they came to power in 1995, they went out of
their way to give approval," the Minister said reacting to a
question on Shiv Sena`s allegations against him.
Ramesh said Sena had lauded him for his stand on Navi
Mumbai airport and Lavasa housing project near Pune and "made
me a hero" but now the party has "made a khalnayak" in the
Jaitapur episode.
"Consistency does not seem to be a virtue in Shiv Sena",
he said.
The Minister said that looking into the environmental
aspects of the project is the only mandate of his Ministry and
maintaining law and order is the responsibility of the state
government.
Taking a position with the local people in coastal
Ratnagiri district who are opposing the project, Shiv Sena had
termed as a "mockery" Ramesh`s statement that there would be
no rethink on Jaitapur nuclear power project.
The Minister wondered what made Shiv Sena, who "gave
approval in unholy haste to the Enron Project", to stand
against the Jaitapur Project.
A day after a protester was killed in police firing in
Jaitapur, Ramesh said what happened in Jaitapur is "most
depressing" and it caused him "great anguish."
PTI
