June 4: A Malayalam saying sums up the dilemma of Kerala's two main political parties over the possible award of the contract for the long-awaited Vizhinjam port project, which has received all the necessary clearances.

"Too sour to swallow and too sweet to spit out," goes the adage.

Sweet, because the Rs 6,000-crore port project can transform the state's ailing economy. Sour, because the lone bidder is a company owned by businessman Gautam Adani, seen as close to the BJP, and is therefore anathema to both the state's ruling Congress and the Opposition Left.

The Congress is divided. Sources said its central leadership doesn't want the deal to go through and rob it of its biggest weapon against Prime Minister Narendra Modi - his closeness to Adani.

But the Oommen Chandy government has now overcome its initial reservations to decide the deal is good for the state and its own image. Among the pluses of supporting the proposed port, to be located near Thiruvananthapuram, are:

♦ With a natural depth of about 20 metres, it could become the country's only port where the world's largest container ships like the Emma Maersk would be able to dock.

♦ The "pro-development tag" awaits whoever endorses the project, which has been a dream for over a century but has repeatedly run into barriers since its inception in 1991.

Conversely, opposing the contract, as the Left is doing, carries the risk of angering voters.

What makes the dilemma so acute is that the Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone has been the lone bidder this time, after three earlier bids by various companies over the last decade ran into political, legal and security complications.

That only one company bid is being seen as a sign of the industry's growing weariness at the project - which means that squandering the chance again is certain to invite popular wrath and the "anti-development" label.

The BJP is watching gleefully. Union shipping minister Nitin Gadkari yesterday added insult to possible injury by accusing Kerala of playing politics and declaring the port would go to Tamil Nadu if the project was scuttled this time.

Chennai is said to have begun discussions for developing a port at Colachel, not too far from Vizhinjam.

A government-appointed committee and the port director board approved the Adani bid last month, and the only remaining step is a state cabinet nod. But with the Left's reservations in mind, the Chandy government had called an all-party meeting yesterday.

The two-hour meeting ended without a consensus after the Left alleged an underhand "deal" and demanded "comprehensive changes'' to the terms of the contract.

Opposition leader V.S. Achuthanandan raised a stink over a meeting between Chandy and Adani at Congress parliamentarian K.V. Thomas's home in Delhi.

He cited the security implications of hiring a private contractor and demanded the government dump the public-private partnership model for the landlord model, under which the state will own the infrastructure and the private operator run the port.

"This is our last opportunity," Chandy told reporters after the meeting. "We'll address the Opposition's concerns. We have given the documents they have demanded and uploaded some others on the Web. Certain papers can only be made public once the deal is signed."

He clarified that Adani had not been given ownership of the land, only a licence to run the port.

But the Opposition wants all the details made public before the contract is signed. It is voicing suspicion that the state's interests were compromised to favour Adani.

A Congress MP has posted a tweet questioning the sincerity of the Left's opposition to Adani's role in the port project.

"Will those objecting to Adani4Vizhinjam explain why he's OK for Kochi but not4 Tvm?" goes the tweet.

The reference is to a news report that a joint venture of the Indian Oil Corporation and Adani Gas Ltd has bagged the contract for the city gas distribution project in Ernakulam district, where Kochi is located.

State BJP president V. Muraleedharan took the high moral ground at the all-party meeting, accusing the Congress and the Left of playing with the state's development.

He said the Centre was willing to take over and execute the project to ensure that Kerala didn't lose it.