NEW DELHI: Even as the protests around the Koodankulam Nuclear Power Project is intensifying, the Prime Minister’s Office is trying to reach out to church leaders championing the movement for an amicable solution to the issue.PMO sources said that given the fact that the anti-Koodankulam protests were mostly being spearheaded by the powerful local church and some leaders of the Christian community, the PMO was trying its best to find a suitable interlocutor from the same community who could carry the government’s message and allay the fears of the local population, mostly fishermen. Sources also pointed out that it was the local diocese which was providing the logistical support as well as motivation and resources to the agitators. The PMO was working on the feedback that the strategy meetings of the anti-nplant protestors have taken place at venues owned or controlled by the local parish. What seems to be prompting the PMO to frantically work through the back-channels was the fear that the situation might go out of hand, especially since the protests were taking place in the backdrop of a closely fought local bodies elections. This, sources said, makes it even more difficult for the Centre to make the State government and the mainstream political parties, including the ruling AIADMK, to take any stand that could be seen as antithetical to the people’s cause and concerns. The PMO, sources in the know said, was trying to rope in a respected Church leader from Mumbai to intervene on behalf of the government to break the impasse over the Indo-Russian joint venture project. The church leader is said to have had a meeting in the PMO on the project on Wednesday night. Mahashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan, who had earlier held the MoS PMO portfolio, is said to be instrumental in getting the church leader to New Delhi for talks. Having tackled similar protests in Jaitapur, Chavan is lending a helping hand to the current MoS in PMO, V Narayanasamy. However, the Central government is hopeful that once the local body elections are over, the protests will taper down and it will be possible to open a dialogue channel with the local population and make them see reason. The Centre also seems to be banking on the belief that the Tamil Nadu government will be finally compelled to ensure that the project, which is crucial for the state’s power situation and industrial growth, is not stalled.
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