Ratnagiri, May 6 () Bharatiya Janata Party MLA Nitesh Rane and his brother Nilesh Rane have accused Shiv Sena (UBT) President and ex-Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray of a conspiracy and alleged corruption for opposing the proposed Rs 3 lakh-crore Ratnagiri Refinery & Petrochemicals Ltd project in Rajapur, here on Saturday.
Sons of Union MSME Minister Narayan Rane, Nitesh and Nilesh attacked Thackeray – calling him the biggest ‘collection agent’ – as he went on a tour of Barsu-Solgaon villages in the vicinity of the planned RRPCL venture with strong opposition from the local farmers and tribals.
The Rane duo staged protests against Thackeray and those opposing the refinery and took out a procession in Rajapur, claiming that the project will immensely benefit the people of the coastal Konkan region.
“The Centre and the state government have declared that unless all the problems and apprehensions of the locals are cleared, the project will not proceed,” said Nilesh.
However, the Rane siblings rued that despite the assurances by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, now there were such protests against RRPCL, and earlier there was opposition to the Jaitapur Nuclear Power Project.
“It seems that Thackeray only understands ‘dhan ke baat’ (language of money). Does he want only his sons (Aditya and Tejas Thackeray) to make money while the youth of Konkan remain backward… This (refinery) will open up huge employment opportunities for the locals,” claimed Nilesh.
Targetting Sena (UBT) leaders like Vinayak Raut, MP and MLA Rajan Salvi, the Rane brothers said that although the people are interested in the project materialising, they are being misguided by those who want to scuttle, but the government will ensure that it is implemented here.
They expressed apprehensions that Thackeray’s visit is intended to create disturbances in the region and demanded a probe whether he has been given ‘an offer’ to disrupt the project which he had himself proposed when he was the CM.
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