Political row erupts over excluding Kerala's Leader of Opposition from Vizhinjam port commissioning

Thiruvananthapuram: Amidst the claims and counter claims being raised by the ruling CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) in Kerala and the opposition Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) over the Vizhinjam international transhipment port, Leader of Opposition V D Satheesan is allegedly being excluded from the list of participants for the formal commissioning of the project by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on May 2.

However, after the Congress raised strong protest against it state ports minister V N Vasavan sent an invitation letter to Satheesan. Congress alleged that it was an eyewasher and Satheesan will take a decision on accepting the invitation after discussing the party. Vasavan said that since the Prime Minister is attending the programme the Centre would finalise the list of persons on the dais.

Congress alleged that the Pinarayi Vijayan government was trying to stake the entire claim over the project ignoring the fact that the Congress government led by Oommen Chandy had made the long pending project happen. 

CPI(M) initially tried to justify the decision to exclude the Leader of Opposition from the participants citing that the inaugural function is part of the ongoing fourth anniversary celebrations of the Pinarayi government which is being boycotted by the opposition party.

Thiruvananthapuram MP and  Congress leader Shashi Tharoor and local MLA M Vincent of the Congress are among the Invitees.

The Vizhinjam port, which is the first mega transshipment container terminal in the country, was a long pending proposal.

The Congress government led by Oommen Chandy initiated the tendering and signed the agreement with the Adani Ports in 2015 for developing the port on a public-private partnership model at a cost of Rs 7,700 crore.

During the construction the project faced stiff resistance from the local fishermen community who expressed concerns that the project would affect their livelihood. But the left front government led by Pinarayi that came to power in 2016 stood firm on taking forward the project.

The Vizhinjam seaport project is considered as a game changer in Kerala's development. Even before the formal commissioning, the port  developed and run by Adani Ports handled 263 ships and handled 5.36 lakh TEU of containers. Largest cargo vessels including MSC Turkiye already docked at Vizhinjam thereby proving the capability of the port to handle big vessels.

Proximity to the international shipping route that connects Europe, the Persian Gulf, Southeast Asia and the Far East by just ten nautical miles is considered as the biggest attraction of the Vizhinjam port. A natural depth of 20 metre also makes it ideal for large mother ships.