Amid Protests, Sanjay Raut Admits Uddhav Thackeray Suggested Refinery Site To PM

Mumbai: 

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut admitted today that Uddhav Thackeray, as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra, had suggested the site at Barsu in coastal Ratnagiri district for a refinery project, but if locals oppose it then his party will back them.

Talking to reporters, Mr Raut hit back at Industries minister Uday Samant and said instead of “flaunting” the letter written by Uddhav Thackeray to Prime Minister Narendra Modi suggesting Barsu as an alternative site, he should visit the site and talk to protesters.

Mr Samant on Tuesday alleged “misunderstandings” were being deliberately created about the project for political mileage and slammed the “politics of double standards”, an apparent jibe at Uddhav Thackeray and his MLA-son Aaditya Thackeray, who handled the environment portfolio in the previous Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government (November 2019 to June 2022).

“Nanar (site) was opposed by locals and then he (Thackeray)

Nanar (site) was opposed by locals and then he (Thackeray) suggested that Barsu could be an alternative place. It is scrubland and that is right. But if locals oppose it, then Shiv Sena (UBT) will not back the project. This is our political stand,” Mr Raut said.

“As chief minister, he (Thackeray) suggested an alternative land. At that time there must have been no opposition (in Barsu). But now people are opposing this. If they (locals) are of the opinion that they will die but won’t give their land, then the letter (by Thackeray to PM Modi) counts no value to us.” Why big-ticket projects went out of Maharashtra, Mr Raut asked Mr Samant.

On Tuesday, the Ratnagiri police arrested 111 people, most of them women, during a protest against the proposed petroleum refinery, an official said