.........BHUBANESWAR: Maintaining that the Centre had given conditional clearance to Polavaram dam project, the Orissa Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) criticised the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) for trying to politicise the issue.


BJD is trying to politicise the issue even after the assurance given by Union Minister of State for Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh to Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik that all steps would be taken to ensure that there will be no submergence on Orissa side, a release issued here by OPCC said.

OPCC president KP Singhdeo met Congress chairperson Sonia Gandhi over the issue on Monday. He said the letter written by Sonia to the Andhra Pradesh Government assuring national project status for the Polavaram dam was not final clearance. The National Development Council (NDC) has already given final clearance to the project, he said.

Sonia told Singhdeo that the issue should not be politicised and the people should not be misled. Countering the BJD’s allegation of Centre’s double standards on the issue, Singhdeo said the then chief minister Biju Patnaik had discussed the project with his Andhra Pradesh counterpart in 1961. Besides, the Orissa Government had also signed an agreement about the project with the Andhra Pradesh government when Nilamani Routray was the chief minister.

The OPCC president said the BJD is trying to politicise the issue because of the increasing popularity of Rahul Gandhi and Congress among the tribals following their victory in saving the Niyamgiri hills in Kalahandi district. Singhdeo also criticised the BJD leadership for trying to involve Sonia Gandhi in the controversy.