CHENNAI: Defending the party’s stand on the proposed India-based Neutrino Observatory in Theni district, CPM State secretary K Balakrishnan has hit out at MDMK general secretary Vaiko for making insinuations against the party over the project.
Vaiko, who opposed the project, criticised CPM stating that it had backed the project and State leadership had stopped former Kerala Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan from participating in the anti-Neutrino march undertaken by him.
CPM State secretary K Balakrishnan told Express that every party has principles on every issue. “In this situation, no party has the right to compel others to support them,” he said.Hitting out at Vaiko, he said the MDMK leader welcomed demonetisation when most of the parties in the country opposed the move of the Centre. “We did not criticise him for that,” Balakrishnan said.
He said the party initially had doubts about the impact of Neutrino project, on whether it will be positive or negative as the Centre had declared it only as a research project. “We have urged the government that the project should be commenced only after clearing the doubts of public over environment and other issues. Hence, we did not take part in the march organised to stop the project,” he said.Vaiko was unavailable for comment on the CPM leader’s statement.