Kerala Assembly passes resolution against leasing airport to Adani

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said that since the state govt had agreed to match Adani's bid, Centre's decision to privatise the airport cannot be justified

The Kerala Assembly on Monday passed a “unanimous resolution” demanding the withdrawal of Union Cabinet’s decision to lease out the Thiruvananthapuram airport to Adani Enterprises.

Moving the resolution, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said the Centre should re-examine its decision. He said the operation and management of the airport should be handed over to a special purpose vehicle (SPV) in which the state government has a stake.

Vijayan added that the state government agreed to match Adani’s quote, and, hence, the Centre’s decision to privatise could not be justified.

Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly, Ramesh Chennithala of the Congress, supported the resolution. However, he criticised the government accusing it of having “double standards” on the issue.

He said the government attacked Adani Group in public, but had secretly helped it by consulting a law firm close to the conglomerate and alleged that there was a “criminal conspiracy”.

Chennithala also wanted to know why CIAL had not been appointed as consultant. “There is a conspiracy to help Adani Group,” Chennithala alleged. “Keeping in mind the state’s interests, the Opposition is supporting the motion and we agree with the spirit of the resolution.” Vijayan rubbished the Congress leader’s charges, saying the advisory firm had no role to play in deciding the state’s quote.

After a brief discussion, Speaker P Sreeramakrishnan declared that the resolution had been “passed unanimously”. However, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which had organised a protest outside the Assembly demanding the chief minister’s resignation over the gold smuggling case, alleged the resolution was not “unanimous” as its lone representative in the House, O Rajagopal, was “not allowed to speak”. “But, we are with the people of the state on the airport matter,” BJP state chief K Surendran told the media.

Adani Group’s didn’t reply to a request seeking comment.

Responding to the development, Minister of State (MoS) for External Affairs, V Muraleedharan, said, “Passage of a resolution opposing the development… by Kerala Assembly proves that both (Congress and CPI-M) lost touch with people. It does not reflect the mood of the people, which is for development & growth”.

Meanwhile, responding to Congress MP Shashi Tharoor’s criticism of the government, Kerala Finance Minister Thomas Isaac tweeted: “Our business model is CIAL (Cochin International Airport). Government major stakeholder with rights to appoint Chair & MD and widely distributed shareholding. This is our version of PPP.” 

The Union Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep S Puri had hit back at the Kerala government last week. He had said Kerala’s bid was 20 per cent below Adani’s.