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Centre plays balancing act in new Ram Setu affidavit
Published on Tue, Feb 26, 2008 at 21:12, Updated on Tue, Feb 26, 2008 at 21:24 in Nation section
Tags: Ram Setu, Supreme Court , New Delhi
SETU DEBATE : The Centre is expected to submit a new affidavit on Ram Setu before the SC by March 14.
New Delhi: The Union Government has finally decided to delete the objectionable portions from the affidavit on the Ram Setu project in a move aimed at addressing the concerns of key constituent DMK without hurting Hindu sentiments.
The government is expected to submit the new affidavit before the Supreme Court by March 14.
At a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday, the government circulated a draft copy of the affidavit to its allies. The final version of the affidavit will be prepared only later this week after the Cabinet meets again.
The Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs (CCPA), chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, met on Tuesday to take a view on the affidavit after the Group of Ministers on the issue failed to reach any conclusion on Monday.
A CCPA will meet again to consider the issue after all the constituent parties have had their say on the same.
Sources said the new affidavit, which needs to be filed before the apex court by next month, would be 'secular' in nature without disturbing the proposed alignment of the shipping project in the Palk Straits.
Unlike the last time when the government had referred to issues like Lord Ram in the affidavit creating a controversy, the present one would consciously avoid any such references.
The government had been forced to withdraw the earlier affidavit, which had said that Ram was a mythical character. The government had asked the Supreme Court for an extension in the deadline to file a fresh affidavit.
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Whatever it is the sethusamuthiram project should be completed successfully...
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