MNS targets Nanar project office

A group of activists belonging to the Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) on Monday vandalised the office of the mega-crore Nanar refinery project in Mumbai.

A group of MNS workers barged into the West Coast Refinery & Petrochemical Project (WCRPP) in Tardeo and vandalised the premises.

Over Friday and Saturday villagers under the banner of two committees— Konkan Refinery Shaetkari Machchimar Sangharsh Samiti led by Bhai Samant and Refinery Virodhi Sangharsh Samiti led by Ashok Welam— met several political leaders in Mumbai including NCP supremo Sharad Pawar, former chief minister and state Congress president Ashok Chavan and MNS chief Raj Thackeray.

Shiv Sena President Uddhav Thackeray had also opposed the project and had openly targeted Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.

On Sunday, at a public meeting, Raj made it clear that his party will not permit the Nanar project to come up in the coastal Konkan region.

"Why the chief minister is threatening that if protests against it continued, the project would be shifted to Gujarat. Why only Gujarat? Why not Goa or Kerala or Tamil Nadu or any other state in India… What is the reason for this?” Raj said.

"Come what may, the MNS will not allow the project to come up," he said.