Thiruvananthapuram: Chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan said in the assembly that the state government is still against the handing over of Thiruvananthapuram international airport to the Adani group. The Centre signed an agreement with Adani group on Tuesday on handing over the airport.
“It is most unfortunate that Centre has taken such a decision when the appeal against the takeover filed by the state government is pending before the Supreme Court,” said the chief minister.
The state government urges Centre to withdraw from this move and consider the state’s request to hand over the operational charge of the airport to the state-owned company, said the chief minister. He said that leaders like Shashi Tharoor are supporting the takeover and hence Congress has lost face in protesting against this move.
Muraleedharan flays CM
Meanwhile, minister of state for external affairs V Muraleedharan flayed the chief minister for protesting against the takeover of the airport. “It is quite strange that the state government, after attending the bid process, is now objecting the takeover,” he said.
Adani group had won the bidding since they quoted a higher price than that quoted by the state industrial development corporation. The bidding process was done transparently, he said.
The chief minister is now alleging that Adani group has no prior experience in handling airport operations. Then why did the state government not allow Cial to bid for the project in Thiruvananthapuram, he asked.
Judicial intervention
With the state government now forced to sign state support agreement for facilitating the smooth transfer of airport management to Adani group, the government is learnt to have decided to request for early hearing of the pending case in the Supreme Court challenging the handover. It is learnt that state’s counsel will seek hearing in the coming week and seek a stay if the court further postpones detailed hearing.