The official commissioning of the Vizhinjam International Seaport by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday (May 2, 2025) appeared marked by national and provincial politics.
Mr. Modi, who dedicated the facility to the nation, seemed to take an oblique dig at the Congress’ national leadership by observing that two prominent INDIA bloc leaders – Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Shashi Tharoor, MP, – shared the high-profile stage with him.
“It might make some quarters uncomfortable,” Mr. Modi quipped. The Prime Minister also joked about the translator missing the political punchline.
Mr. Modi also satirically seized on State Fisheries Minister V.N. Vasavan’s words for political point-scoring. Mr. Vasavan said the Kerala government had “found a partner” in Adani Ports to make Vizhinjam a reality.
Mr. Modi said he saw some novelty in a Communist government reckoning a private sector entity as a reliable partner in a flagship infrastructure development project. “Private-government partnership is crucial to the country’s development”, he noted.
Mr. Modi appeared to have used the moment to indirectly dispel Congress’ criticism that the Central government favoured the Adani Group.
Mr. Modi paid homage to the late Pope Francis in the predominantly Latin Catholic locality. He remembered St Thomas, one of the 12 Apostles, who Christians believe had arrived in Kerala in 52 BC.
Mr. Modi saluted the crowd by stating ‘Jai Bharath and Jai Keralam’, signalling that the Centre was “in lockstep with the State” on welfare and development issues.
Meanwhile, Mr. Vijayan sought to make a political point by underscoring that Kerala had borne 60% of the project cost. He noted that the Centre had limited itself to (a relatively less and repayable) viability gap funding.
Mr. Vijayan appeared to leverage the national stage to counter the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress’ assertion that the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government was falsely taking credit for a Central scheme. He also highlighted the challenges the LDF had overcome to make Vizhinjam a reality.
Mr. Vasavan described Mr. Vijayan as “the driving force” behind the Vizhinjam port.