The CPM will raise the issue of the upcoming nuclear power project at Gorakhpur in the state during its campaign for the parliamentary elections. The party has fielded Ram Kumar Bahbalpuria as its candidate from the Sirsa parliamentary seat. “The CPM has been consistently opposing the Gorakhpur Haryana Anu Vidyut Pariyojna (GHAVP) for its safety aspects, its location in the densely populated area, devastating impact on environment, besides the issue of the availability of water it will need regularly,” said Inderjit Singh, state secretary of the party. “We must not forget that the Fukushima nuclear disaster of Japan occurred over 200 km away from Tokyo and yet affected the lives of lakhs of people there,” he said. The CPM secretary said the party had been strongly criticising the hasty approval of the project by the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF), which was likely to affect the fertility of the land and denude it of rich flora and fauna.