Adani’s Kerala port project forges unlikely friends: CPM, BJP take on protesters

On Tuesday, CPI(M) district secretary Anavoor Nagappan and BJP district president V.V. Rajesh, rallied under the banner of a local people’s committee that has been demanding speedy completion of the project. The committee, a platform of various Hindu organisations, has been on the warpath at Vizhinjam, in protest against the fishermen’s agitation that has stalled the construction of the port. Over the past one month, the emerging narrative around the project is of the local people’s action committee as a strong Hindu voice in favour of the Adani port that has been stalled by Christian fishermen.

The action committee has the backing of various Hindu community outfits like the upper caste Nair Service Society, besides OBC Hindu organisation like the Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana Yogam, as well as the Vaikunda Swami Dharma Pracharana, which has a considerable presence among the Nadar community in southern Kerala.

As a run-up to a CPI(M)-BJP alliance in favour of the Adani project, senior CPI(M) leader and state education minister V. Sivankutty had come out against the Latin Catholic Church, alleging that there was a bid to create a riot. Pro-Left media in the state had also alleged involvement of foreign funding behind the fishermen’s agitation.

BJP has also taken a similar stand on the fishermen’s agitation. Some days ago, BJP state president K. Surendran said the forces that had organised the protest against the Kudankulam nuclear power plant near Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu, were behind the Vizhinjam protest. The Kudankulam protest was spearheaded by the Latin Catholic diocese of Tuticorin.

Fishermen and locals holding black flags stage a protest against Adani Groups’ port development project at Vizhinjam, outside the main entrance of Adani Port in Thiruvananthapuram. (PTI/File)

Vizhinjam falls within the Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha seat, where BJP has high stakes. In several past elections, BJP had come runner-up in the seat, held by Congress’s Shashi Tharoor. Even though the BJP has been trying to woo the Christian community in Kerala, the party had never bothered to share the concerns of the coastal Christian community vis-a-vis Vizhinjam, nor had it tried to get closer to the fishermen, who traditionally voted for the Congress.

Even before the state government had signed the seaport deal with Adani in 2015, Hindu outfits in the state capital had tried to make it into a community plank. Then, filmstar Suresh Gopi, now a BJP MP, had openly stated that Hindus should awaken and come together to make the seaport a reality.

CPI(M) district secretary Anavoor Nagappan said the fishermen’s agitation is against the state government. “The government will accede to all reasonable demands of the fishermen, but the construction of the seaport can’t be stopped. The agitators wanted to create tension in the project zone, which can’t be allowed. This protest is not for the fishermen. Those who are leading it have other vested interests,” he said.

BJP leader V.V. Rajesh said the party’s stand is that the project should be completed, as it is a central government scheme. “The local action committee has all partymen as members. The fishermen’s agitation has laid siege to a village, affecting their lives with their agitation. The BJP wants the state government to intervene and end it,” he said.

Action council leader Fr. Theodacious D’Cruz said the coming together of CPI(M) and the BJP against the fishermen’s agitation shows the blatant influence of Adani’s money. “It shows the nexus between the two parties. They are all with Adani now. Political parties that had initially stated they were with the fishermen, have now changed their stand under the influence of money. We’re not worried about it. Our agitation would go on. Only fishermen are left to face the loss of livelihood and dwellings,” he said.

Taking a dig at the CPI(M) and the BJP, AICC general secretary K.C. Venugopal said, “An unholy nexus between the two parties has been unveiled now. We can call the CPI(M) fight against the Governor as an anti-fascist war. On the other hand, both parties have come together against the poor fishermen. CPI(M) is now with corporate and communal forces in Kerala. It shows the CPI(M)’s political degeneration,” said Venugopal.