Kottayam (Kerala), Apr 30 (PTI) Leader of Opposition in the Kerala Assembly, V D Satheesan, on Wednesday said that he was invited to 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 he received a letter from State Ports Minister V N Vasavan after the controversy erupted.
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 or whether I was just an invitee or a participant in the programme."
"There was not even a programme notice along with the letter," he said.
Later, while speaking to reporters, Satheesan said that Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had termed the project a Rs 6,000 crore real-estate deal and a huge loot when the UDF was in power. Now that the port has become a reality, the CM was trying to take credit for it, he alleged.
Stepping up his attack on the Left government and Vijayan, the opposition leader said the project, which was launched in 2015 by the Oommen Chandy government, was supposed to be completed in 2019 but has only been finished in 2025.
He further said road connectivity to the port was to be completed by 2017 and rail connectivity by 2019, but neither has been done.
"In fact, they (the Left government) have not done any of the things they were supposed to do in connection with the project. But, now that it is completed, they are trying to take credit by forgetting those who brought the project," Satheesan claimed.
He asserted that the Vizhinjam project was the outcome of the "willpower" of the then UDF government and former CM Oommen Chandy.
Regarding his alleged exclusion from the programme, Satheesan said he was not truly invited, as he was not given any programme notice along with the letter.
He also claimed that the invitation letter sent by Vasavan on April 29 was dated April 28, the same day the minister had publicly said that the opposition leader would not be invited.
In the morning, while speaking to PTI, Satheesan rejected a state minister's earlier contention that he was not invited because 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 said.
He added that inviting him would depend on the government’s sense of propriety and alleged that he was “deliberately” excluded because they feared he would reveal "unpleasant and true facts" about the port’s background.
"I do not have a problem with not being invited. It is their (the government’s) prerogative whether to invite me or not. The public is watching all this," he added.
On Tuesday, Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) chief K Sudhakaran 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 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.
PM 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.
It is expected to be fully operational by 2028 after the completion of the second, third, and fourth phases.