Kerala MPs stage dharna on Vizhinjam Port issue

New Delhi, Aug 11 (UNI) All the MPs from Kerala, cutting across party lines, today staged a dharna in front of Mahatma Gandhi's statue within the Parliament premises in protest against the denial of security clearance to Vizhinjam Port at Thiruvananthapuram.

Shouting slogans against the delay in giving clearance to the Rs 15,000-crore Container Terminal Project, the MPs belonging to both the Marxist-led ruling Left Democratic Front and the Congress-led Opposition United Democratic Front, continued with the sit-in for nearly one hour, despite the scorching sun in the forenoon.

Former chief minister A K Antony, who also participated in the dharna, said though there were differences between political parties they were restricted to Kerala. "When we are here, we are all one to fight for the interests of Kerala." Minister of State for External Affairs E Ahamed, who also represents Kerala in the Lok Sabha, joined the protesters minutes before they concluded the agitation.

Yesterday, CPI leader Panniyan Ravindran, who represents Thiruvananthapuram constituency in the Lok Sabha, sat on a dharna in the company of former Kerala Assembly speaker Varkala Radhakrishnan, who also represents Chirayinkizh in Thiruvananthapuram district.

The MPs alleged that the development of Vizhinjam Port was being "sabotaged" to promote the development of Colachel port in neighbouring Kanniyakumari district of Tamil Nadu.

They also complained that the Union Shipping Minister T R Baalu seemed to have more interests in Colachel Port. The issue was raised in the Lok Sabha by Mr Varkala Radhakrishnan and Mr P C Thomas during Zero Hour.

Mr Radhakrishnan said the security clearance was denied to the Vizhinjam port citing that two Chinese companies were part of the consortium which was selected as a successful bidder for the construction of the Port.

He said there was a deliberate attempt to delay the Vizhinjam project under one ruse or the other.

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