Thiruvananthapuram | Chief Minister of Keralam V D Satheesan on Thursday denied that the Congress was adopting double standards on the Adani Group, saying the UDF government was supporting the company in operating the Vizhinjam port as it was in the interests of the state.
Satheesan was responding to a query during a media interaction, a link to which he shared on Facebook, on why the UDF government in Keralam was supporting Adani when Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had consistently spoken against the group.
Asked whether this amounted to double standards on the part of the Congress, Satheesan replied in the negative and said the state government owned the port, while Adani was the concessionaire operating it.
"So, how can we fight each other at the port? What we can do is safeguard the interests of Keralam, and that we are doing. We are complying with the terms of the concession agreement and supporting the concessionaire as it is in the interests of the state," he said.
On the Pradhan Mantri Schools for Rising India scheme, Satheesan said there was no provision in the Memorandum of Understanding signed with the Centre by the previous Left government to withdraw from the scheme.
"So, we decided that we will not allow the central government to be involved in the curriculum. That is our political decision. We decided that the state will select the schools for implementing PM SHRI. Only on these conditions will we implement the scheme," he said.
PM SHRI is a centrally sponsored initiative launched on September 7, 2022, to upgrade over 14,500 existing government schools into model institutions that showcase the implementation of the National Education Policy, 2020.
On the power crisis affecting the state, Satheesan blamed the Kerala State Electricity Board for a lack of planning last year, saying it was aware of the possibility of the El Nino weather phenomenon affecting the state.
El Nino is a natural climate pattern in which surface waters in the central and eastern tropical Pacific Ocean become unusually warm.
The CM said his government was viewing the crisis as an opportunity to introduce short- and long-term measures to address the issue.