Invited for Vizhinjam event only after my exclusion became controversy: Congress leader V D Satheesan

As the row over Satheesan's exclusion intensified on Tuesday, Ports Minister V N Vasavan had said that an invitation on his official letterhead had been extended to the opposition leader.

Kottayam (Kerala): Leader of Opposition in the Kerala assembly V D Satheesan on Wednesday said that he was invited for the commissioning of the Vizhinjam International Port only after his exclusion from the event became a controversy.

Speaking to PTI, the Congress leader said that after his exclusion became a controversy, he received a letter from the state Ports Minister V N Vasavan.

As the row over Satheesan's exclusion intensified on Tuesday, Vasavan had said that an invitation on his official letterhead had been extended to the opposition leader.

Satheesan claimed that the letter "did not state why I was being invited and whether I am just an invitee or a participant in the programme".

"There was not even a programme notice along with the letter," he claimed.

He also rejected a state minister's contention that he was not invited as the commissioning was part of the government's 4th anniversary celebrations which the opposition had decided to boycott.

"The commissioning is not part of the government's 4th anniversary celebrations. If it is, why is the Prime Minister coming for it? Are the BJP and CPI(M) celebrating the anniversary together? So, it is clear to everyone, that was not the reason," Satheesan contended.

He said inviting him would depend on the government's sense of propriety and claimed that he was "deliberately" excluded as they were worried that he would utter some unpleasant and true facts about the port's background.

"I do not have a problem with myself not being invited. It is their (government's) prerogative whether to invite me or not. The public is seeing all this," he added.

On Tuesday, Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) chief K Sudhakaran had alleged that inviting Prime Minister Narendra Modi while excluding the state opposition leader was part of Pinarayi Vijayan's strategy to curry favour with the BJP in order to shield his daughter from a pending illegal payment case.

He also urged the LDF government to name the port after former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, calling him the true architect of the Vizhinjam project.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to dedicate the transshipment port to the nation on May 2.

The deep-water port has been developed by Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd (APSEZ), India's largest port developer and part of the Adani Group, under a public-private partnership model at an estimated cost of Rs 8,867 crore.

The port received the commercial commissioning certificate on December 4 last year following the successful completion of its trial run.

The port is expected to be fully operational by 2028 after completing the second, third and fourth phases.