The Vizhinjam port, which was commissioned on Friday, has ignited a war of words among the Congress, BJP and the Left in Kerala.

Congress’s Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor has lashed out at the LDF government for not acknowledging former chief minister Oommen Chandy’s role in the establishment of the port. Tharoor also rued the fact that he did not get a chance to speak at the commissioning event.

“On the day of the official commissioning of #Vizhinjam port, recalling the remarkable contributions of late Kerala chief minister @Oommen_Chandy, who pushed this project, signed the original commissioning agreement and initiated the work whose culmination we celebrated today. Shame that none of the official speakers even mentioned his name — and I, who would have, did not get a chance to speak,” Tharoor posted on X.

The Congress leadership had already expressed displeasure over the LDF government’s eagerness to claim credit for the Vizhinjam project.

Congress general secretary (communications), Jairam Ramesh, recalled on X his visit to Vizhinjam as the Union environment minister during Chandy’s tenure in 2011 “to set the ball rolling” for the project.

Responding to Ramesh’s post, Tharoor wrote: “Your approval after due studies of weather and wave patterns over several seasons, paved the way for what is truly a jewel on our nation’s coastline — a state-of-the-art port with technologies and facilities almost impossible to find elsewhere in Asia.”

Leader of the Opposition in the Kerala Assembly, V.D. Satheesan, who skipped the commissioning to protest the late invitation extended to him for the event, was targeted by CPM mouthpiece Deshabhimani for his absence.

Kerala PWD minister P.A. Mohammed Riyas triggered another controversy by sharing on Facebook a photograph of himself along with state finance minister K.N. Balagopal and CPM state secretary M.V. Govindan with the caption: “We are in the audience and Rajeev Chandrasekhar is on the stage.”

BJP state president Chandrasekhar on Saturday said while everyone was celebrating the commissioning of the port, “a son-in-law of a Communist royal family” was unhappy about it. Riyas is the son-in-law of chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan.

Chandrasekhar said he arrived early at the venue and went to the stage as he wanted to meet the BJP workers.

“The son-in-law should consult a doctor or a psychologist. He is upset because I arrived early. I felt that as the BJP state chief, I should arrive on time,” Chandrasekhar said at a party event.