The agitation against the proposed hydrocarbon exploration and extraction project at Neduvasal in Puthukottai district saw the DMK and the Congress, once the strong proponents of the project, turning its bitter critics overnight.
The permission to set up the shale gas extraction plant in Neduvasal village was given in 2009 by the then DMK Government in Tamil Nadu headed by M Karunanidhi. MK Stalin the then deputy Chief Minister, was the one who played the crucial role in bringing the project to Neduvasal village. The agreement was signed during the tenure of Manmohan Singh as Prime Minister in whose government the DMK was the “most trusted ally”.
With the general public in Puthukottai district coming out against the project, the DMK and the Congress were the first parties to wash their hands off the hydrocarbon project. “I feel aghast that Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswamy, who called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi last week and submitted a memorandum listing the State’s demands did not mention anything about the project,” charged Stalin, who is the leader of the Opposition while addressing a meeting at Neduvasal on Saturday. He was evasive when asked about the MoU signed between the then DMK Government and the Centre..
S Thirunavakkarassar, the TNCC chief, blamed the Modi-led Government at the Centre for all the woes suffered by Tamil Nadu. “The Modi Government could have held an environment impact analysis before going ahead with the gas extraction project. Their indifference towards Tamil Nadu show how indifferent the Union Government is towards the people of Tamil Nadu,” charged Thirunavakkarassar.
Interestingly both Stalin and the Congress were vying with one another to take credit for the project in the run up to the 2011 Tamil Nadu Assembly election and the 2014 lok Sabha election. The CPI chose to play a different game in the ongoing agitation by blaming the BJP for the state of affairs.
“The hydrocarbon project is yet another proof of the high handed attitude of Narendra Modi and the BJP government at the centre. We have to condemn only the Modi government for the project,” said D Raja while addressing the demonstrators at Neduvasal.
The CPI leader preferred not to attack the DMK or the AIADMK since he needs the support of one of the parties to get re-elected to the Upper House when his present tenure comes to an end in 2019.
While NS Vekitaraman, a Chennai based chemical engineer-turned-entrepreneur said that there was nothing dangerous about the project, Ananthanarayanan, an engineer-turned-climate expert said the proposal to extract shale gas from the bottom of the earth’s surface posed ecological threat to the environment. But BJP leaders in the State claimed that the project is environment friendly and would play a stellar role in the economic development of the people.