Dharmendra stirs Polavaram nest, BJD unruffled

BHUBANESHWAR: To many in Odisha, Dharmendra Pradhan is the insider who has now turned into an outsider. The BJD sees him as a person who thinks of the Centre first and the state later. But on Tuesday Dharmendra must have won over some friends when he decided to openly criticise the Polavaram (Indira Sagar dam) project on river Godavari in Andhra Pradesh, days after the Centre announced that it would bear the entire estimated cost of Rs 16,000 crore for the project.
"Since its inception, the BJP is of the view that the Polavaram project will harm Odisha. The party is very clear and stands by it even today," Dharmendra told reporters here, taking a view which appears to be contrary to the Centre's.
The Union petroleum minister said time and again questions are being raised why the Centre did not scrap the project. "One must understand that the government has to act in continuity. The UPA government accorded national project status to Polavaram in the Andhra Pradesh Reorganization Act. It's now obligatory for the Centre to bear its cost under the same Act," Dharmendra said.
Unequivocally supporting the Naveen Patnaik-led BJD government's stand on the project, Dharmendra said Odisha, Chhattisgarh and Telangana should come together to fight against the project. "We will continue our support to voices against the project. The affected states should fight for justice in the court of law," the Union minister said.
Political insiders feel Dharmendra's statement is an attempt to neutralise two things: First, the growing perception that the BJP compromised Odisha's interests in the Mahanadi water dispute by going soft towards the Raman Singh-led BJP government in Chhattisgarh, and secondly the Ajit Jogi-led Chhattisgarh Janata Congress (Jogi) has launched a massive movement against the Polavaram project in Chhattisgarh.
The BJP can't afford to take a chance on the Polavaram issue, given that it may erode the party's base in Odisha, and with rural polls round the corner the BJP needs to play safe.