Pics: Brijesh Garodi
Daijiworld Media Network - Mangalore (BG)
Mangalore, May 1: "Niddodi thermal power project is not acceptable at all; it is totally against the interests of the people of the vicinity. I will not allow this project by any means and I will live up to my words," said veteran Congress leader Janardhan Poojary, addressing media persons at the district Congress office here on Thursday May 1.
"The issue regarding a letter written by the chief minister to the central government in connection to the project has been creating chaos lately. The CM had written the letter a year ago and not recently. Some people have been simply spreading rumours and creating panic. The project cannot be approved that easily without the amendment of Land Reforms Act. Even the Supreme Court cannot approve it without the approval of 80% of the people. A strong voice against the Niddodi project has been raised in the parliament," he said.
"As per the Kasturirangan report, the Western Ghats (the declared forest land) is spread over 1.60 lac sq km. Almost 60,000 sq km of this land is declared as environmental sensitive land which means that nearly 37% of the forest area in the Western Ghats is sensitive and cannot be damaged as it is likely to affect the lifestyle and day-to-day life of the people in the surroundings.
"Safeguarding forests is our duty and the people living in and around the forest regions have been doing it well. There are 1,580 villages along the coastal belt and around 860 of these are likely to be affected. The people living in the forest belt have given more importance to agriculture and various plantations like coconut, areca, banana, vegetables etc, hence, it our duty to safeguard these villages and the people," he said.
Referring to the Sullia stabbing incident, he said, "There has been an attack on two Congress members, Ismail and his wife Waheeda Ismail in Sullia over some issue. They were severely injured and are being treated in a hospital in the city. I visited the hospital and met them. The police must take this case very seriously and take strict action against the accused as atrocities and assaults, especially on women have been increasing."
With regard to the attack on the toll gate at Brahamarkootlu, he said, "The attackers must be given stringent punishment, no matter who they are; even if they are my party workers, or my relatives or even my son. No one has the right to take law in one's hands and hence strict legal action has to be taken against the guilty."
Criticizing BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, he said, "Modi’s behavior has made the entire country bow its head in shame. He is indeed unfit to become the PM of the country or even to contest for that post. His egotism and arrogance has crossed all limits. People have been making fun and speaking badly about PM Manmohan Singh, but one must accept the fact that India has achieved the third place globally in terms of economy as per a study by the International Comparison Program (ICP)."
On the controversy over the affair between Congress leader Digvijay Singh and TV anchor Amrita Rai, Poojary said, "Digvijay Singh has at least accepted his relationship with the lady. But in Modi's case, Supreme Court and Poojary had to intervene to make him accept his wife. He has acknowledge her (Jashodaben) as his wife but has not taken her home. And Poojary will not rest until he takes his wife back to his house."
On the ANF shootout case at Sringeri which took the life of cattle trader Kabeer, Poojary said, "A BJP leader has supported the Sringeri shoot ut case and passed statements that all cattle thieves should be killed. I hereby issue a serious warning that strict legal action will be taken and cases filed against leaders who pass such provocative statements. They (BJP) are demanding cases against U T Khadar and Mohiuddin Bava, but a very strong case will be imposed on you (BJP leader), if this continues."
He also said that Baba Ramdev had degraded the Dalit community with his 'honeymoon' remark against Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi, and that the Congress strongly condemns him for it.
Ibrahim Kodijal, mayor Mahabala Maarla, Kallige Tharanath Shetty, Ivan D’Souza, Harikrishna Bantwal, Shashidhar Hegde, Suresh Ballal, Arun Coelho, T K Sudhir, Nazeer Bajal, Vishwas Das, Appi, Keshava Maroli, Jayakar Samarth and others were present.