While the BJP is pushing for the project, the Sena, Congress, NCP and even BJP ally Narayan Rane are backing the locals’ opposition to it
Mumbai: An oil refinery project proposed to come up in Maharashtra’s Konkan region has become the latest bone of contention between sparring allies BJP and Shiv Sena.
The project, which is proposed to come up at Nanar in the Rajapur tehsil of Konkan’s Ratnagiri district—about 14 kilometres from where the contentious Jaitapur nuclear power project is planned—has been facing stringent opposition from the local populace. The Shiv Sena, opposition parties Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), as well as BJP ally Narayan Rane of the Maharashtra Swabhimaan Paksh have opposed the project. The BJP, meanwhile, has been keen on taking it forward.
Konkan, the coastal belt of Maharashtra, is a region where the Shiv Sena has been traditionally strong, and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is struggling to get a foothold.
Sena’s rally
Shiv Sena’s Subhash Desai, industries minister in the BJP-led Maharashtra government, addressed a rally at Nanar Monday, in the company of party chief Uddhav Thackeray, saying the notification for land acquisition for the refinery would be scrapped.
Desai said: “I am announcing something here with Uddhavji’s permission. The state government had issued a notification to acquire land for the oil refinery. I am scrapping this notification.”
After Desai’s speech, Thackeray, addressing the crowd, declared the project as scrapped. He said: “When state industries minister Subhash Desai has said there will be no land acquisition for the project, the topic of whether Nanar will stay or go is irrelevant. Nanar will remain Nanar. The project has gone.”
He challenged the BJP-led government to shift the project to Gujarat or Nagpur.
However, Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis immediately rebutted Desai’s statement, clarifying that the notification had not been scrapped.
Speaking to the media, the CM said: “Subhash Desai’s opinion is his personal opinion. This is not the government’s stance. The government will decide its stance after taking into consideration the well-being of Maharashtra and its people.
“The rights, in this case, lie with a high-powered committee under the chief secretary, and not the minister. As of today, no such notification has been scrapped, and no such proposal has been received by the high-powered committee.”
The Nanar project
The integrated refinery and petrochemicals project, called the Ratnagiri Refinery & Petrochemicals Ltd, will be jointly developed by a consortium of Indian oil marketing companies — Indian Oil Corporation, Bharat Petroleum Corporation and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation — and the Saudi Arabian Oil Co.
On 13 April, the companies signed a memorandum of understanding for the refinery, proposed to be built over 15,000 acres, amid was local opposition to the project. The nine gram panchayats of the 14 project-affected villages have passed resolutions against the project.
Dharmendra Pradhan, union petroleum and natural gas minister, at the time of signing the MoU, had said the project would bring huge benefits to the Konkan region and create a large number of jobs.
Speaking at Monday’s rally, Thackeray accused Pradhan of going ahead with the MoU signing even though CM Fadnavis had assured a delegation of local villagers that the state government would not go ahead with the project.
“It is not just that the people of Maharashtra were cheated. What is agitating is that Delhi does not give any importance to the word of the person sitting as CM in my Maharashtra,” the Sena chief said.
Political advantage
Politically, the Shiv Sena, the Congress, as well as the NCP are strong in the Konkan region, comprising the six districts of Ratnagiri, Sindhudurg, Raigad, Palghar, Thane and Mumbai, with the Sena having more political equity. Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg, in particular, are areas where the BJP has been unable to make no inroads.
For the BJP, promoting the Nanar project and talking about investment, employment, and the overall economic growth of Konkan is in sync with its development agenda, which it hopes might work in the region. However, by opposing it, the Sena might reap big political gains.
Political analyst Surendra Jondhale said: “Rallying with the local population will help the Shiv Sena strengthen its hold over Konkan as well as target what seems to be one of the CM’s pet projects.”
At Monday’s rally, Thackeray spoke elaborately about how the Sena has a relationship of blood and bones with the people of Konkan, and how the entire region has been with party founder Bal Thackeray “for generations”.
Jondhale said while the Congress and the NCP are also opposing the project to target the BJP-led government, it can be viewed as hypocrisy, as it was the previous Congress-NCP regime that was pushing for the Jaitapur nuclear power project despite people’s opposition. The same goes for Swabhimaan Paksh leader Rane, who has considerable clout in the Konkan region, but was the state industries minister at the time when the government convinced a majority of project-affected persons to accept the government’s compensation in case of Jaitapur.
Jondhale added: “The Nanar project is a spark that will widen the rift between the Shiv Sena and BJP. If the state government insists on going ahead with the project, it could even form the basis for the Shiv Sena to break away from the current BJP-led government in the future.”