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Bhubaneswar, Jan 30: The statement of former Union forest and environment minister Jayanthi Natarajan that Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi had put pressure on her to reject environment clearance for bauxite mining in the Niyamgiri hills by Vedanta Aluminium, has prompted the ruling BJD as well as the BJP to train their guns on the Congress.
Terming the rejection of green nods as a conspiracy against the state, former minister and BJD spokesperson Rabinarayan Nanda said, “Natarajan’s statement is enough to prove that what kind of conspiracy the UPA government had hatched to thwart Orissa’s progress. Had the industry been set up it would have helped creating more jobs in the state. The cancellation of the forest clearance was a big shock to Vedanta and it almost came to closure.”
“The statement is enough to expose the Congress party’s stand towards Orissa,” Nanda said. Meanwhile, the BJP’s state unit criticised the party after the revelation by the former environment minister.
“It’s an open secret that Rahul and Sonia interfered and influenced the decision of the Centre,” said BJP leader Suresh Pujari, adding, “Intervention of such extra-constitutional authorities is a major setback for the democratic structure of the country.”
The Union forest and environment ministry had rejected the stage-2 forest clearance to Vedenta for extracting bauxite from Niyamgiri hills August 24, 2010. Two days later, Rahul Gandhi had visited Niyamgiri and had termed the decision of the ministry as victory of tribals.”
Natarajan, in her resignation letter to Congress President Sonia Gandhi, said she received ‘specific requests’ from Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi on environmental clearances and consequently rejected big-ticket projects despite pressure from her Cabinet colleagues seeking approval.
Leaders of the Orissa Pradesh Congress Committee came to defend the party and the ‘first family. “Rahul Gandhi had spoken to Natrajan about the Vedanta issue at Niyamgiri. He had done it to protect the interest of tribals. So there is nothing wrong in it. Tribal lands cannot be handed over to corporates for the sake of money,” senior Congress leader Bhakta Charan Das said.