Political wrangling over claiming credit for the realisation of the Vizhinjam international port broke out barely 48 hours before the Kerala government-sponsored event to receive the first ship to call at the port.
Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president K. Sudhakaran accused Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan of falsely positing himself as the architect of the mega scheme. He said the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government delayed the project by four years, causing a mammoth cost overrun.
While in the Opposition, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] had tried to scuttle the project by raising fictitious corruption charges against the then Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and Ports Minister K. Babu. Nevertheless, Chandy’s will to implement the project prevailed, said Mr. Sudhakaran.