BJD claims `double standards` by Congress on Posco

Hitting out at the UPA govt at the Centre for directing halt to work at Posco`s project site, ruling BJD MLAs accused the Congress of adopting `double standards` on the implementation of the country`s biggest FDI in Orissa.

Bhubaneswar: Hitting out at the UPA
government at the Centre for directing halt to work at Posco`s
project site, ruling BJD MLAs today accused the Congress of
adopting `double standards` on the implementation of the
country`s biggest FDI in Orissa.

Treasury bench members raised the Centre`s direction
on the Posco project in the assembly during the zero hour and
condemned it. There was no MLA from the opposition side as
they were boycotting the House.

"How can the Centre ask the state government to stop
work after giving forest clearance to the Posco project?"
senior BJD MLA Ananta Das said raising doubt over the
intentions of the N C Saxena Committee.

"It is a conspiracy against the state government,
particularly against the Posco project," former minister
Arabinda Dhali said while seeking a censure motion against
the UPA government.

Alleging a conspiracy by some NGOs, the BJD MLAs
dubbed the N C Saxena Committee as a `committee of NGOs`.

The Saxena Committee, jointly formed by the Ministry
of Environment and Forest and Ministry of Tribal Affairs,
has held held that the state government had violated norms of
the forest right act, 2006 while recommending Posco`s proposal
for forest land diversion.

The MoEF issued the directive to the state government
on the recommendation of the Saxena Committee.

Another BJD member Pravat Tripathy said "It is a
conspiracy by Congress to ensure that the country`s biggest
FDI is not implemnted in Orissa."

Ersama-Balikuda MLA Prashant Muduli who represents the
project area claimed that 95 per cent of the people were in
favour of the project. "We should not stop the project to
appease only five per cent villagers."

Outside the House, Congress Chief Whip Prasad
Harichandan, who along with other party MLAs have been sitting
on a dharna near Mahatma Gandhi`s statue in the assembly
premises demanded Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik`s resignation
in view of Saxena Committee detecting violation of the forest
right act.

Harichandan asked how an elected government could
violate the law of the land.

He said that the PMO and the Planning Commission were
in favour of the Posco project.

PTI

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