Suggesting that there could be a conspiracy behind the anti-nuclear power project agitation in Jaitapur, the Congress on Tuesday cautioned people against "attempts by forces inimical to India's economic growth".
The party at the same expressed deep regret over the killing of one person allegedly in police firing at Sakhrinate village when around 600-700 locals protesting against the project, attacked the local police station.
"The death of a person in police firing or otherwise is always regrettable and no party sensitive towards people's aspirations will ever condone it. But what has to be seen is whether the agitation was based on some real concerns or completely imaginary concerns are being stoked by vested interests," party spokesperson Manish Tewari told mediapersons.
His reaction came on a day, when the opposition's bandh in coastal Ratnagiri district to condemn police firing on anti-nuclear power project demonstrators in Jaitapur turned violent with a mob ransacking a district hospital and torching buses.
Noting that India's energy requirments are going to rise manifold in the near future and nuclear energy may also have a role to fill this deficit, Tewari said, "It is also important for all stakeholders to isolate forces, which are, whether for political or other extraneous reasons, stoking imaginary concerns."
Wondering "Whether those powers who want to stop India's economic growth are not behind such agitations," he alleged that "similar forces were opposing hydro power projects of the country during the 1980s and 1990s."
The Congress spokesperson at the same time stressed he did not believe in conspiracy theories. Tavrez Sejkar was on Monday killed in police firing at Sakhrinate village when around 600-700 locals protesting against the project, attacked the local police station.
The project with six nuclear reactors with a capacity of 1,600 MW each would be one of the largest N-power projects in the world.
