Thiruvananthapuram: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has dedicated the Vizhinjam International Seaport to the nation today on May 2, marking the culmination of a project that began over three decades ago. Touted as a game-changer for Bharat’s maritime trade and a boon for Kerala’s economy, the port is expected to strengthen Bharat’s position in global shipping and logistics.
Despite the historic significance of the event, the Congress party’s Kerala unit, including Leader of the Opposition VD Satheesan, chose to boycott the inauguration ceremony. Initially citing the lack of an invitation, Satheesan later stated he would not attend because he was denied a speaking opportunity at the function. The boycott comes at a time when Satheesan is seen as one of the five key contenders for the chief ministerial post within the congress party in the 2026 Kerala Assembly elections.
The Congress’s absence has sparked speculation over deeper political motivations, including pressure from the party’s national leadership under Rahul Gandhi. Questions are being raised as to whether the move is an attempt to align with Rahul Gandhi’s persistent campaign against the Adani Group and Modi, which has been at the centre of political and economic controversy.
A recent report by Sputnik India has further intensified the debate. The report claims that Israel’s intelligence agency, Mossad, allegedly uncovered a connection between Rahul Gandhi and the controversial Hindenburg Research report that accused the Adani Group of stock manipulation and accounting fraud. According to the report, Mossad operatives purportedly hacked the home servers of Sam Pitroda, Chairman of the Indian Overseas Congress and a close aide of Gandhi, retrieving encrypted communications that allegedly pointed to coordination with Hindenburg prior to the January 2023 report.
The Hindenburg allegations caused a steep fall in Adani Group’s market value, wiping out over $100 billion. The alleged Mossad operation was reportedly aimed at investigating whether there was a deliberate political attempt to use the report to damage the reputations of Adani Group Chairman Gautam Adani and Prime Minister Modi.
Further controversy surrounds Rahul Gandhi’s visit to the United States in September 2024, during which he met with anti-Modi and anti-Adani activists. He also spoke at Georgetown University’s Walsh School of Foreign Service (SFS), often dubbed the “CIA’s spy factory” due to its historical connections with the American intelligence community. The institution has also been linked to Qatar royal family members and Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated organizations, including media outlet Al Jazeera. Concerns were raised over the venue and the affiliations of its faculty and funders.
Notably, the Georgetown event was reportedly coordinated by Edward Luce, a former Financial Times journalist and a known critic of the Modi government. Luce served as the South Asia bureau chief for Financial Times from 2001 to 2006 and previously worked as a speechwriter for then-Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers during the Clinton administration. Both Luce and Financial Times have published critical commentary on the Adani Group. His association with Rahul Gandhi has therefore drawn considerable attention, especially given Gandhi’s sharp focus on targeting Adani during the winter session of Parliament in December 2024, even as other leaders of the INDI Alliance addressed a broader range of issues.
These development have led to the widespread speculation that the Congress’s boycott of the Vizhinjam Port inauguration may be less about protocol and more about ideological posturing and internal strategic alignments, both domestic and international.
As the Vizhinjam Port begins its journey as a key node in Bharat’s maritime strategy, the absence of Kerala’s main opposition party from the launch casts a political shadow over an otherwise landmark national achievement.
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