"Saddened by you": Pramod Tiwari slams PM Modi's remark on INDI alliance during Vizhinjam Seaport inauguration

May 03, 2025

New Delhi [India], May 3 : Congress leader Pramod Tiwari on Saturday criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for taking a jibe at the INDI alliance during the inauguration of the Vizhinjam International Seaport in Kerala.
Tiwari claimed that the 'conduct' of the PM was shown clearly in two separate events where he criticised the Opposition, once while being in Bihar and another in Kerala.
"I am unhappy about his statement. The Prime Minister has two types of conduct in two places, once. One, you call an all-party meeting. There has been a terrorist attack in the country. The ashes of the pyre of twenty-six people did not cool down and you are giving an election speech in Bihar and grabbing Nitish Kumar's hand," Tiwari told ANI in Delhi.
Expressing disappointment over PM Modi's comments at the port inauguration, Tiwari said he was shocked to hear the Prime Minister claim that the INDI alliance would be worried seeing Modi, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, and Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on the same stage.
"Then he goes to Kerala, talks less about the inauguration in an inaugural program. He says that the INDIA bloc will be worried about the presence of local parliamentarians and the Chief Minister. Prime Minister, are you seriously understanding this pain of terrorism or mocking it? I am saddened by you, Prime Minister. This was not expected from the Prime Minister of India," Tiwari added.
Earlier, on May 2, during the inauguration of the Vizhinjam International Seaport in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, PM Modi stated that the presence of Shashi Tharoor and the Kerala CM on stage "would disturb the sleep" of many people.
"I want to tell Chief Minister (Pinarayi Vijayan), you are a strong pillar of INDI alliance, Shashi Tharoor is also sitting here. Today's event is going to disturb the sleep of many", Prime Minister Modi said.
While the translator who translated the Prime Minister's message in Hindi to Malayalam did not deliver the exact translation, PM Modi said, "The message has gone wherever it has to go."
Tharoor, a four-time Congress MP from Thiruvananthapuram, had recently praised the PM Modi-led Central government over his remarks on the April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam. Tharoor had also been criticised by his party colleagues over PM Modi's diplomatic tasks with US President Donald Trump.
PM Modi inaugurated the 'Vizhinjam International Deepwater Multipurpose Seaport' worth Rs 8,900 crore in the presence of Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, Adani Group Chairman Gautam Adani, Union Minister Suresh Gopi and Kerala BJP Chief Rajeev Chandreshekar among others.