Cong-DMK say not divided over Sethu

Rejecting media reports that the Congress and DMK were divided over the implementation of the Rs 2,400 crore Sethusamudram Project, the state unit of Congress today said all the allies were firm on implementing it.

“Such reports are speculative. All the allies of the UPA are united in this matter and want the implementation of the dream project of Tamils,” TNCC president K V Thangkabalu told reporters.

Media reports had earlier suggested that Union Shipping Minister T R Baalu had been at loggerheads with Union Culture Minister Ambika Soni over the feasibility of the project.

“There is a very clear understanding of the project among the allies of the UPA and all of them have been supporting it. The government will abide by whatever verdict the Supreme Court pronounces,” he said referring to the case against the dredging of the Ram Sethu as part of the project.

Meanwhile, opposing any move to demolish the Ram Sethu for implementation of the Sethusamudram project, AIADMK leader Jayalalithaa on Friday said nowhere was it stated in Ramayan that Lord Ram himself destroyed the bridge, as stated by the Centre in the Supreme Court.

“The Centre had said Ram used his magical bow to break the bridge into three parts. The UPA government now allows the Hindus in the country to have faith in every aspect of the Ram legend except the bridge as this has to be demolished to make way for the SSSP,” she said.

“It is important to note that various experts on the Ramayana state emphatically that nowhere in Ramayan is it mentioned that Lord Ram destroyed the bridge,” she said in a statement here reacting to the Centre’s latest affidavit in the apex court on petitions challenging the project.

Claiming that any damage to the bridge would lead to a communal strife in the country, she said if any such move was sought to be implemented, the AIADMK would “fight it in the Supreme Court to uphold the true spirit of secularism.” Zee News