Congress leader Rahul Gandhi came down heavily against the Great Nicobar Island Project on Friday — sparking a fresh war of words with the BJP. The Leader of Opposition posted a 16-minute video statement on X and insisted that official claims made by the Narendra Modi government were a “lie”. The Congress has repeatedly questioned the strategic justification of the project and alleged that it was being pushed despite serious ecological concerns.
“I visited the southernmost tip of India. I stood at Indira Point. I walked under trees that have stood for centuries. I dove into coral reefs among the most vibrant on earth. And I sat with the people who live there,” began a lengthy social media post from Gandhi.
What did Rahul Gandhi say?
The Raebareli lawmaker noted that he had interacted with various communities who lived in the region and highlighted several concerns in his post. He also alleged that the Great Nicobar Project was not about defence or a creation of a transhipment port.
“Tribal communities, whose land is being taken away by violating the Forest Rights Act. Settlers, many of them former soldiers, placed on these islands by the Indian government, who aren’t getting fair compensation. The Modi government and BJP tells you Great Nicobar Project is about defence. It is not. Expand INS Baaz – we will back the government fully. The Navy has been asking for expansion for five years – it has been ignored. They tell you it is about a transhipment port. It is not. India is already building one in Kerala, which is on the mainland,” Gandhi countered.
He also outlined the severe ecological consequences of such a project — contending that 1.5 crore trees would be felled, coral reefs “erased from official maps” and soldiers and tribal displaced from their homes.
“So one businessman can build hotels and casinos on India’s most irreplaceable ecological land. Every young Indian I have spoken to understands this. You know that no amount of profit is worth destroying what can never be recovered. I stand for ecologically balanced development. These islands can be the most extraordinary sustainable destination the world has ever seen. That is the India worth fighting for,” he alleged.
Gandhi dislikes India’s strategic rise, claims BJP
The BJP responded to the lengthy Earth Day message from Gandhi by alleging he was “disturbed” by India’s growing geopolitical expansion. Party leaders claimed that the Congress leader would rather see other countries become more powerful than India — accusing the Congress of failing to implement such “futuristic” projects.
BJP national spokesperson Tuhin Sinha said the vision for the Great Nicobar project dates back to the 1970s and accused the Congress of failing to implement such “futuristic” projects despite having conceived them decades ago.
“If the Congress could only imagine such projects but was unable to implement them, that is certainly not our fault. Through this project, India’s active land presence in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands will effectively move nearly 400 kilometres further south, deeper into the Indian Ocean,” he told PTI.
“The development planned at the southern tip of Great Nicobar Island will be located only about 75 to 80 kilometres from the Strait of Malacca, which handles nearly 30% of global maritime trade today…You can therefore imagine the immense commercial and shipping significance of a port located so close to it. You can also imagine the geostrategic importance of Great Nicobar Island,” he added.
