THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: It should have been a momentous occasion in the annals of not only Kerala’s history but also that of the whole country. But the solemnity of the occasion was marred by the ugly display of petty politics.
The reference is to the commissioning of the Vizhinjam International Deepwater Multipurpose Seaport in Kerala’s capital by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on May 1.
The most unseemly manifestation of politics was the impudence with which BJP’s state president Rajiv Chandrashekhar made straight to the podium, almost two hours before the function was to start. There he shone in solitary glory as he was the only politician who occupied a chair on the podium. The Prime Minister and other dignitaries arrived around 11 a.m. It was a totally unwarranted attempt to hijack the function on the part of Rajiv. That was bad enough. What was worse was the fact that he was found raising his fist every time the BJP workers at the inaugural shouted slogans in support of the Prime Minister. Kerala’s Tourism Minister Mohammed Riyas hit the nail on the head when he made a caustic comment on the unfortunate incident: Rajiv had no business to do what he did. It militated against the spirit of democracy.
True, he was not in the State’s list of invitees for the function. But Rajiv was included on the directive of the Prime Minister’s Office. The least he could have done was to wait for the PM and other dignitaries to come to the stage. He did nothing of the kind, in the process, lowering the dignity of his office, and making him the butt of public ridicule and the target of crude jokes. Even the BJP leaders could not have viewed the show of pique and pettiness with equanimity. The unedifying spectacle would do nothing to add to the popularity of the saffron party in the State.
The Prime Minister himself, regrettably, said something which spoiled the solemnity of the function. He made a dig at the national leadership of the Congress by pointing to the presence of two prominent INDIA Bloc leaders, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Congress leader Shashi Tharoor at the function. “It could give sleepless nights to some leaders,” the PM said in a sarcastic vein. He could have avoided making that uncharitable remark. But unfortunately he did not.
Mr. Modi also used Kerala Ports Minister V N Vasavan’s remark to score political brownie points. Vasavan had said that the Left Democratic Front (LDF) found a partner in Adani Ports to make Vizhinjam a reality. A Communist Government considering a private sector entity a reliable partner in a flagship infrastructure was a novelty to the PM! But it was not an unprecedented act. The EMS Government had, way back in the 50s invited the Birlas to start the Gwalior Ryons in Kerala even when it opposed the industrialist’s anti-labour ways.
In his speech, the Prime Minister said coastal states and port cities will become key growth centres in the days to come. The Union Government, he added, will do everything to strengthen them to take the maritime sector to new heights. The cornerstone of the Centre’s port and waterways policy has been that infrastructure building and the ease of doing business must go together. The private sector had a critical role to play in this, Modi said, adding that thousands of crores have been invested through public-private partnerships (PPP) over the last 10 years to upgrade India’s ports to global standards.
The Vizhinjam port has many things to commend itself. With a natural deep draft of 20 meters and located near one of the world’s busiest sea trade routes, the port is all set to strengthen India’s position in global trade. It will also increase logistics efficiency and reduce dependence on foreign ports for cargo trans-shipment.
In contrast, the Kerala Chief Minister made a dignified speech highlighting the LDF Government’s key role in translating the Vizhinjam dream in to a resounding reality. Pinarayi’s message was polite but firm. It was Kerala which bore over 60 per cent of the Vizhinjam project cost. In glaring contrast, the Union Government had limited itself to paying a relatively small and repayable – 818 crore – viability gap funding. The discrimination against Kerala was glaring because the viability gap funds provided to other states were treated as grants. Kerala has to give the Centre over 12,000 crore in the long term. Pinarayi also succeeded in cutting both the BJP and the Congress to size effectively demolishing their contention that LDF Government was taking false credit for the fruition of the Vizhinjam scheme.
In his presidential address, Pinarayi said: “This is not just the opening of a port gate but the opening of the country’s grand gateway to the development potential of the third millennium, a grand initiative that will link India to the global maritime trade logistics map.” This is the first time in India that a major port is being built on the initiative of a State Government. Incidentally, the State is bearing Rs 5370.86 crore of the total project cost of 8,686 crore. The remaining 2,497 crore is being spent by Adani Vizhinjam Port Private Ltd. The Centre is providing only a viability gap fund of Rs 818 crore. The port can now end the national loss of 220 million dollars per year because of the diversion to foreign ports of 75 per cent of the container trans-shipment cargo. It is a matter of pride to all Keralites that the State could make up for the national loss to a large extent, Pinarayi pointed out.
On their part, Congress leaders in the State tried their level best to give the entire credit for the project to former chief minister late Oommen Chandy. Some of them went to the extent of saying that the project should be named after him!
LDF leaders countered this by saying that the project became a reality because of the political will and drive of the LDF Government led by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. All that Chandy had managed to secure was a deal which was against the interests of the State. The LDF Government changed the contract by making it Kerala-friendly Also, the Congress had denied permission to start the project forcing the LDF to launch a protracted struggle. This being the reality, the attempts by the Congress to take credit for the commissioning of the Vizhinjam project are, to say the least, unfortunate. (IPA Service)
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