On Vizhinjam opening day, Congress recalls Chandy's key role
The Congress seemed to seek refuge in political symbolism and rhetoric to deny the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government 'credit' for the Vizhinjam International Port.
Even as Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived at Vizhinjam on Friday to officially commission the port, Congress leaders congregated at district centres across the State to lionise late Chief Minister Oommen Chandy as the driving force behind the mega infrastructure project that advantageously positioned Kerala on the global maritime trade map.
Congress legislator M. Vincent paid floral tributes at Chandy's tomb at Puthupally, Kottayam, before returning to Vizhinjam to attend the commissioning.
In Kozhikode, United Democratic Front (UDF) convener M M Hassan alleged that the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had conspired to eclipse the Oommen Chandy government's seminal contributions to make the Vizhinjam port a reality.
Mr. Hassan stated that the Centre and State governments deliberately sidelined Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan from the commissioning venue.
At the same time, he said both administrations showed no hesitation in violating protocol to seat BJP State president Rajiv Chandrasekhar, who does not hold any Constitutional or elected office, on the stage.
In a Facebook post, Mr. Satheesan flagged a nefarious bid to erase Chandy's contributions from the public mind. However, he said such machinations would come to nought. 'Such forces feared even the memory of Oommen Chandy,' he said.
He said the CPI(M) had tried to kill the Vizhinjam project when it was in its embryonic stage. Chandy endured street protests and accusations of corruption. The late Chief Minister cleared a significant hurdle for the project by prevailing on the then Union Minister for Environment and Forests, Jairam Mahesh, to sanction it.
In New Delhi, the All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary (Organisation), K.C. Venugopal, said the CPI(M)-BJP bonhomie was evident at the port's commissioning. 'On seeing his closest friend, Pinarayi Vijayan, the Prime Minister broke protocol to target Rahul Gandhi politically for exposing the Modi-Adani nexus,' he said.
CPI(M) State secretary M V Govindan stated that Chandy had merely signed away Kerala's substantial investment, including land, to a private entity to profit at the public exchequer's expense.
He said the LDF government revised the original agreement, tipping the scales in the State's favour. It expedited the Vizhinjam port work, operationalised the international transhipment anchorage, and set 2028 as the deadline for completing the expansion. 'Vizhinjam is a testimony to LDF's political will and unshakable commitment to Kerala's development and welfare,' he added.
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