Sena forces Kakodkar to drop reference to Jaitapur in speech

Shiv Sena workers today forced former chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission Anil Kakodkar not to make a mention of the proposed Jaitapur atomic power plant in Ratnagiri district in his speech here on the occasion of 'Science Day'.

The Sena activists, who raised slogans against the controversial project at the Agharkar Institute here, which had organised Kakodkar's lecture on 'Future Energy Security', dispersed after the conveners gave them a written undertaking saying that the topic of the scientist's talk would be confined to the theme, without any reference to the plant.

A spokesman of the Sena here said that the party activists would continue to oppose Kakodkar's utterances in support of the Jaitapur plant, which they claimed, threatened the security of the coastal Konkan.

Kakodkar refused to make any comment on the issue when his reaction was sought by reporters after the lecture.

The senior scientist is known for his stand in support of the Jaitapur project, which, according to him is "safe".

Meanwhile, Sena executive president Uddhav Thackeray told reporters in Mumbai that his party would continue to oppose the Jaitapur project.

Asked about the "threats" to former chairman of Atomic Energy Commission Anil Kakodkar's event, Uddhav said, "I will check, who threatened whom."

"Who will be responsible if anything happens tomorrow. It is true that we need power, but if any calamity were to befall, who will own up the responsibility," Uddhav said.