Respected,
Hon. Uddhav Thackeray,
Former chief minister,
Maharashtra.
If you recollect, the
upcoming oil refinery project in Barsu was recommended by you and today you and
your colleagues are fuelling the matter out of proportion. By doing this, you
have brought forth another facet of your personality. By now everyone is aware
about the letter you had written to the Centre when you were the chief minister
asking for this project to come up in Barsu. Also, if you remember, in this
letter you had suggested that the project must come up in Barsu because the
land is barren and hence there will be no question of rehabilitation. When
people began agitating in protest of the project proposed in Barsu this letter
got published. And immediately, you disclosed, “I sent that letter because
there was pressure on me from the Central government.”
Now if you recollect, the
central government had asked you to reduce VAT on petrol and diesel when you
were the chief minister. But at that time, you did not act. In this case also
you did not feel the need to discuss about the project with the locals before
writing the letter to the Centre. There is a limit to how much lies can be told
for mere political gains. At this juncture I am reminded of Saint Tukaram who
has, in one of his verses, aptly described how a selfish person does not mind
going to any extent for his personal gains. He says that as a parrot imitates a
human, a bull obeys his master when trained and a caricature speaks a thousand
words, similarly a selfish person can go to any extent to fulfil his ambitions.
In the current scenario, exhibiting
misoneism, you seem to have taken up the task to oppose every single project
that will bring about development in Maharashtra. People in Maharashtra have
seen how the Aarey car shed project was opposed, then the Samriddhi Mahamarg,
the Metro, the bullet train, the Wadhawan project and now there is opposition
for the Barsu oil refinery project. How much ‘supari’( contract money) they
have taken to dent development of state by opposing every single project? I am
sure only ‘Matoshree’ knows the answer to this question.
People also saw how you
and your followers had opposed the oil refinery project at Nanar since the very
beginning. And hence it was decided to shift it from Nanar. By the end of 2019,
you came to power and as the chief minister, you decided that the proposed
project in Nanar must be taken to Barsu. And hence you, as the chief minister,
sent a letter to the Prime Minister. Now I am genuinely confused – was the
person who signed this letter to the Prime Minister, the real Uddhav Thackeray
or is this person who is singing the tune of opposition, the real Uddhav
Thackeray. And despite all this, you complain that there was pressure from the
Centre to take this project to Barsu. While on one hand you claim that
Maharashtra never bows down before Delhi, on the other hand you are the only
one to shout out loud that you were pressurized to write to the central
government. Ironically, seeing the way you flip facts and try to mislead
people, one can only imagine that even 10 mouths of Ravana would be
insufficient for you considering the amount of lies you narrate.
In a recent interview,
your cousin Shri. Rajsaheb stated that he was interested in film making and
that politics was never his passion. Had Rajsaheb really pursued his passion of
film making, he would have successfully come up with a movie titled ‘Uddhav
versus Uddhav’. Jokes apart.
Now this oil refinery
project in Barsu is getting opposed on environmental grounds. But the fact is
that it is a green refinery project. Environmentalists have already declared
that the project will not cause any damage to the environment. Still, certain
sections of the people are spreading false propaganda that the project will
affect the fishing industry and will also grossly affect the mango and cashew
crops. By spreading this false information, how far do you intend to hamper
Maharashtra’s development? Interestingly, Reliance already has a similar
refinery at Jamnagar in Gujarat. This place is known for its mangoes that are
exported. Here, fishing is also carried out on a large scale. And the oil
refinery project has not affected the environment in Jamnagar at all. Now,
almost after 20 years, a new oil refinery project is coming up in Barsu. It is
proposed to deploy advanced technology. And hence in such a situation, by
spreading lies and deceiving people, don’t you and your bootlickers realise the
damage you will cause to Maharashtra. The Shinde-Fadnavis government has
already clarified that petroglyphs will not be touched. Despite all this, if
you are still adamant on hampering Maharashtra’s development and taking the
state almost a century behind then remember that people will also not spare you
for this damage.
It must be noted that
this oil refinery project will be the largest investment project in the history
of our country. It is expected to provide direct and indirect employment
opportunities to nearly 1 lakh people. Also, even if the number of people
agitating is less, the Shinde-Fadnavis government is considerate and will give
them a patient hearing. The government will try to clear their doubts through
dialogues and healthy discussions.
But what you are doing –
opposing investment coming at this scale in Maharashtra. Later if such a big
project goes out of the state, you will be the one to cry out loud and complain
that projects are going out of the state. Isn’t this contradictory?
The state government has already assured that there will be no pressure on the local farmers and nothing will be done by oppressing them. Even the Bharatiya Janata Party firmly believes that environment must always be protected. Uddhavrao, people from Konkan have always loved you. And hence I urge you, to not repay them in this manner by misleading them.
If implemented, this oil
refinery will have a capacity to process 60 million metric tonnes of crude oil
annually.Also, this project will increase the country’s production of
petrochemicals by nearly 30 per cent. This means the country’s oil imports will
also reduce.
The employees of Saudi
Arabia-owned ‘Aramco’, with whom Maharashtra has collaborated for this oil
refinery project, shared their experiences as to how they have ensured that the
environment is not damaged. Still, deliberate attempts are being made to
mislead and provoke the residents of Barsu by narrating false stories. You are
misleading the innocent people from Konkan only to quench your thirst for power
and are thereby betraying them.
BOX
Do you even remember what
all you had mentioned in the letter written as the chief minister?
Let me remind you that in
the letter sent to the Central government on January 12, 2022, Uddhavrao, you
had said that you can give 1,300 acres of land in Barsu and 2,144 acres of land
in Natya (area) for the refinery project. Since, there are no settlements, no
trees on nearly 90 per cent of this land, there will be no need to displace or
rehabilitate any locals. This project will also not damage the environment.
Also this project will strengthen the economic condition of the state and the
state GDP will increase by 8 per cent.And hence I feel that the project must
come up in Barsu only.
(Article Pre-Published in
Times of India Online –30 April 2023)
Keshav Upadhye, Chief
Spokesperson
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