Pinarayi Vijayan mum on Chandy role, gives LDF govts credit for port

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan hailed the Vizhinjam International Seaport as a "gateway to India's maritime future" and a shining symbol of the state's development vision. While PM Narendra Modi formally dedicated the port to the nation, Vijayan, who delivered the presidential address at the inaugural event, chose to spotlight LDF govt's central role in conceptualising and executing the project, and avoided any mention of former CM Oommen Chandy , under whose leadership the crucial contract with the Adani Group was signed.

In what many view as a calculated omission, the CM refrained from acknowledging Chandy's controversial, yet decisive 2015 move to sign the agreement with Adani Ports - a move then fiercely opposed by LDF, which even instituted a judicial probe into the deal after coming to power. Instead, Vijayan highlighted the legacy of the 1996 LDF govt for originally envisioning the port, and credited the current administration for executing it against all odds.

Vijayan stressed that Vizhinjam is the first large port in India to be developed under the leadership of a state govt, with Kerala bearing over 60% of the Rs 8,686cr project cost.

He said that although the agreement originally scheduled the project completion by 2045, LDF govt ensured that commercial operations began in 2024. "We did not wait for deadlines - we advanced them," he said.