For the past 18 months, Madhya Pradesh deputy chief minister Jamuna Devi has kept up the fusillade against Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) leader Medha Patkar. Now Patkar has returned fire by filing a Rs 10-lakh defamation suit against Devi in the Indore district court.
Earlier, Devi had alleged that Patkar was hand-in-glove with western outfits that have been funding NBA and accused the activist body of being anti-development and fascist. The deputy chief minister hails from Dhar district around which the Maan dam controversy is centred. And Patkar has championed the cause of the oustees. Patkar's decision to sue Devi coincided with the submergence of 21 houses belonging to tribals in the Maan area.
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