Koodankulam issue: Delegation to meet PM today

Chennai, Oct 7: Carrying different views on the controversial Koodankulam Nuclear Power Project, a delegation of Tamil Nadu Government and activists opposed to the plant will discuss the issue with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in New Delhi on Oct 7.

The delegation would submit separate memoranda to Singh, indicating the differences between the state government and the anti-nuclear activists spearheading the stir calling for the scrapping of the Indo-Russian project.

"The state government feels that the project be suspended till the fears of the people are allayed while we want the project to be scraped," Convener of People's Movement Against Atomic Power S P Udayakumar said.

Udaykumar, one of the key leaders of the popular agitation against the project, set to be commissioned in Dec, said, "The government side will be led by Finance Minister O Panneerselvam and it is not an all-party delegation."

He said protesters wanted inclusion of representatives from political parties which supported the agitation that saw thousands of locals rallying behind 127 persons of Idinthakarai village in their 12-day fast last month against the project.

"We know where the Prime Minister stands. Yet we will meet him tomorrow, submit our memorandum and see what happens. Of course, we do hope to achieve a breakthrough in this," Udaykumar, who is part of the delegation, said.

PTI