Pinarayi, Tharoor at Adani event will give many sleepless nights, says PM Modi

The sight of Kerala's Leftist CM Pinarayi Vijayan and Congress MP Shashi Tharoor at an event linked to an Adani project would "give several people sleepless nights", PM Modi quipped on Friday at the inauguration of Vizhinjam Port, India's first dedicated transshipment hub, in Thiruvananthapuram. He also took a dig at Kerala CPM's stance on private investment.

Left mantri called private investor ‘partner’: PM Modi

Referring to state ports minister VN Vasavan calling Adani “a partner”, PM Modi said, “See, a communist minister called a private investor a partner. This reflects the change happening in India.” “I want to tell the chief minister (Vijayan)…you are a strong pillar of the INDI alliance. Shashi Tharoor is also sitting here…,” Modi said, pausing in between to allow his words to be translated to Malayalam for the local audience.

When the translator appeared to misinterpret the part about “sleepless nights” as a reference to “issues about Indian airlines”, the PM immediately caught on. “He couldn’t translate it properly. But the message has reached where it should,” Modi said.

AICC general secretary KC Venugopal said Modi’s remarks about INDIA bloc and Lok Sabha leader of the opposition Rahul Gandhi — the PM didn’t mention him — were unbecoming of his position. “Let’s see who actually has sleepless nights. It seems the PM got carried away by the excitement of meeting his dearest friend, Adani,” said Venugopal, adding that CM Vijayan could have corrected the PM, but chose not to.

Later, Vasavan clarified that he called Adani a partner because the industrialist executed the Vizhinjam Port project initiated by ex-Congress CM Oommen Chandy. “There’s no need to read too much into what I said. It’s a public-private partnership, and as long as the agreement is in place, Adani remains the project partner,” he said.

The launch event was overshadowed by friction between CPM and Congress. State leader of the opposition VD Satheesan skipped the event, claiming he wasn’t properly invited. Congress functionaries were also upset that the state govt didn’t acknowledge ex-CM Chandy’s role in the project. They also pointed out the irony of CM Vijayan accusing Chandy of corruption when he was CPM state secretary.