THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Amid controversy surrounding the exclusion of the Leader of Opposition VD Satheesan from the invitee list for the Vizhinjam International Seaport inauguration, Ports Minister V N Vasavan clarified that V D Satheesan’s name was in the list submitted to the Union government.
The minister said that the state government had concerns regarding the availability of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the wake of the terrorist attack in Pahalgam, and confirmation from the PMO came only on Monday, along with approval for the final 17-member invitee list. The PMO added the name of BJP state president Rajeev Chandrasekhar also to the list, said Vasavan. “I sent the invite to the Leader of Opposition after getting the confirmation. However I did not get any response so far,” said Vasavan. “Rajeev Chandrasekhar was invited not as the state president of BJP, but as a former Union minister. It was a direction, which we could not ignore, from the Union government,” he added.
The final invitee list includes Governor Rajendra Arlekar, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, Union minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways Sarbananda Sonowal, Union ministers Suresh Gopi and George Kurian, state ministers V N Vasavan, V Sivankutty, G R Anil and Saji Cherian, MPs Shashi Tharoor, Adoor Prakash and A A Rahim, M Vincent MLA, Adani Group Chairman Gautam Adani, Mayor Arya Rajendran, Rajeev Chandrasekhar and Adani Port MD Karan Adani. Vasavan confirmed that no more than seven people would be allowed to speak on the dais when the Prime Minister addresses the public. He also said that representatives of Latin Catholic Church would be invited. The programme is scheduled to start at 11 am and wrap up in one-and-a-half hours.
In defence of the formal commissioning of the port being tied to the LDF government’s fourth anniversary, Vasavan said that there was no issue with this. “This is a state government project under public-private partnership. So, when the project is inaugurated around the anniversary, it’s part of the celebration. It’s a matter of pride for the government,” he said.