THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: In a setback for Chief Minister V D Satheesan, the Congress high command has taken a dim view of the controversy over the proposed transfer of a stake in Adani Vizhinjam Port Private Limited (AVPPL) to the Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) without the state government’s approval.
According to Congress sources, a high command representative conveyed the party’s displeasure to the chief minister two days ago and reminded him that the state’s handling of the issue must be in line with the Congress’ national stand on the Adani Group.
Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi has repeatedly accused the Adani Group of monopolising key sectors of the economy through the political patronage of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP.
The high command is learnt to have told the chief minister that the concession agreement signed during the Oommen Chandy government’s tenure was designed to safeguard the state’s interests. Any dilution of those safeguards would be unacceptable, it reportedly said, urging the government not to yield to pressure from the Adani Group. The leadership also recalled allegations that corporate funding had been used to engineer defections of opposition legislators to the BJP, sources said.
It was the high command’s intervention that prompted Satheesan to harden his stand on the proposed share transfer on Thursday evening, Congress leaders said.
“His response to questions and a submission in the assembly a day earlier lacked bite. He described MSC as the world’s largest container shipping company and even remarked that the issue had not generated much public interest,” a Congress MLA said.
However, leaders close to the chief minister dismissed the claim as a “witch hunt” aimed at undermining his credibility.
Govt will seek legal opinion: CM
They pointed out that Satheesan had assured the assembly that the government would not compromise the state’s interests. Sources said the high command was also suprised by Satheesan’s claim that the government learnt of the proposed stake transfer only through recent newspaper reports, pointing out that details of the Adani Group-MSC deal had long been in the public domain.
“A leading financial daily carried a detailed report on the proposed stake transfer on June 1,” a Congress leader said. The government’s claim of being unaware of the developments failed to convince the party leadership, which is learnt to have advised it to tread cautiously.
AICC general secretary (organisation) K C Venugopal’s remarks on the controversy are being seen within the party as an indirect signal of the high command’s disapproval of the state government’s handling of the issue. Speaking to reporters, Venugopal asked whether Adani had become a “super government” and whether Kerala was being run by the BJP. “Things do not happen here simply because Adani wants them to,” he said.
The controversy has also revived discussions within the Congress over Satheesan’s chartered flight to Mangaluru on the eve of the assembly election results, when the race for the chief minister’s post was at its peak. Satheesan has since declined to answer questions about his alleged meeting with an Adani Group official and NDA MLAs.
Though several Congress leaders had flagged the controversial trip to the high command, it chose not to pursue the matter then as the party had just returned to power in the state after a decade in the opposition.
Meanwhile, Satheesan said on Friday that the state government would seek legal opinion and an expert review of the Adani Group’s proposal to transfer shares in the port’s operating company. He said the government would not rush a decision on approving the deal.