Cong refuses to give word on Sethu project

New Delhi: The Congress party on Monday accused the Bharatiya Janata Party of hypocrisy on the Sethu Samudram shipping canal project but refused to say if it will complete it. Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi said the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance was now opposing the project citing religious reasons after initially coming out all for it.

It was the NDA government that started the project in 1999, he told reporters. He added that it did not use the term Sethu Samudram then, referring to it as a canal project or Adam’s bridge. "The BJP and its allies were indulging in utter hypocrisy, double standards and double speak and misusing the name of Lord Ram for political gains," Singhvi said. The project, which seeks to cut shipping time between the east and west coasts of India, has run into serious opposition from Hindu nationalist groups and also the BJP who say it would destroy a bridge they claim was laid during the time of the Ramayana. Experts refute this theory.

Singhvi rattled off details about the project under the NDA government and quoted statements of NDA ministers to drive home his point. "Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had himself grandly announced the project," he said.

"In January 1999, Defence Minister George Fernandes said that … the canal was a top priority of the government," Singhvi said. "Then Shipping Minister Satrughan Sinha called it a dream project.

"The NDA government held several meetings to give environmental clearance and remove other roadblocks." Asked if the Congress-led government would complete the project, he tried to evade the question. "Now the matter is pending in the Supreme Court and all the documents, technical details and photographs have been submitted to it. We will follow the court’s directives," he said.

Source: sify.com

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