Former chief minister Prithviraj Chavan on Thursday said the Devendra Fadnavis government has lost the moral authority to continue ruling the state as its alliance partner Shiv Sena too joined the Opposition in the well of the state legislature to protest over the proposed Nanar refinery being planned on the Konkan coast.“The BJP stands isolated now on the setting up of the refinery,” the Congress leader told the media outside the Vidhan Sabha. The Congress and the NCP members were seeking scrapping of the refinery plan and the Sena members did not hesitate to join the protest. “This is an indication that the Fadnavis government is now in a minority,” he added. Chavan also pointed out that there are lot of Pakistani nationals working in Saudi Arabian companies, including Aramco, which has stakes in the Nanar project. “Will the Maharashtra government allow Pakistani engineers to work in Konkan,” he asked.Accusing the Fadnavis government of being adamant and going ahead with the plans under pressure from the Narendra Modi government at the Centre, which wants to favour Aramco to establish the plant in India, Chavan said the project should be shifted to Gujarat or Rajasthan.On Thursday, as soon as the lower House assembled in the morning, leader of opposition Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil raised the Konkan refinery issue and said that 17 villages from the project site has opposed the project.NCP legislator from Konkan Bhaskar Jadhav pointed out that two projects —thermal power and refinery—would be in ‘1.03km aerial distance’ which could be dangerous for people in Konkan and other areas.

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