'You Invited Adani to Kerala': Rahul's Rhetoric on the Left Sparks Showdown

At the INDIA bloc meeting of opposition leaders on June 8, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi found himself in the firing line of Left leaders after claiming that it was the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government in Kerala that had invited business tycoon Gautam Adani to execute a major infrastructure project in the state, according to leaders present in the meeting.

The exchange began when CPI General Secretary D Raja objected to Gandhi’s recent assertion that the Left was “no longer Left”. Raja questioned the basis of the remark. Gandhi responded forcefully, insisting that his assessment was grounded in facts. “We have facts,” he said during a meeting that also saw several INDIA bloc constituents voice frustration over what they described as Congress’ tendency towards one-upmanship and unilateral decision-making within the anti-BJP alliance. Congress was also criticised for placing its own political priorities above those of other partners in the coalition of sorts, two participants at the meeting told Open.

When Gandhi reiterated that his comments on the Left were based on facts, CPM Rajya Sabha MP and central committee member John Brittas intervened. “What are the facts that you are talking about?” Brittas asked.

Gandhi replied that it was the LDF that had invited the Adani Group to build and operate the Vizhinjam International Seaport in Thiruvananthapuram. The claim was factually incorrect.

“No, Mr Rahul Gandhi,” Brittas shot back. “It was your government that invited Adani to Kerala to build the Vizhinjam seaport.”

Whether inviting Adani to invest in Kerala can be construed as evidence of a party no longer being Left is a separate debate. What was evident in the meeting, however, was that Gandhi's argument collapsed because it was factually incorrect. It was either a case of ignorance or a deliberate distortion.

In fact, the record is unambiguous. It was the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) government (2011 to 2016) of the late Kerala Chief Minister and Congress stalwart Oommen Chandy that awarded the Rs 7525-crore contract to Adani Ports for the construction and operation of the Vizhinjam International Seaport. Chandy himself laid the foundation stone for the flagship transhipment project in December 2015.