The presence of CPM and BJP representatives at a counter-protest to the Church-led fisherfolk’s agitation against the Adani group’s Vizhinjam seaport project in Thiruvananthapuram has triggered allegations of a secret understanding, denied by the Marxists.

CPM Thiruvananthapuram district secretary Anavoor Nagappan and BJP district president V.V. Rajesh shared the dais on Tuesday at a public meeting at the state secretariat, held at the end of a 15km march from Vizhinjam by people opposed to the 107-day-old anti-port agitation.

Nagappan on Thursday denied any understanding with the BJP and said that local Congress leaders too were present at the counter-protest, which demanded the completion of the seaport at the earliest.

“The protest was organised by local people from Vizhinjam who are fed up with the agitation. They had invited representatives of the CPM, BJP and the Congress apart from several community organisations, which too lent them support,” Nagappan told The Telegraph.

Attempts to contact Rajesh for his comments were unsuccessful.

At Tuesday’s meeting, Nagappan had said “a group with ulterior motives is controlling the (anti-port) protesters”, while Rajesh had described the protest as “an attempt to sabotage the seaport”.

The agitating fisherfolk blame the under-construction port for the coastal erosion that has destroyed their homes and livelihood. The protesters have blocked work at the project.

Eugine H. Pereira, vicar-general of the Latin Archdiocese of Trivandrum, who has been leading the agitation by the Vizhinjam Samara Samithi (protest forum), told this newspaper that Tuesday’s counter-protest had proved that the CPM and the BJP were hand in glove with the Adani group.

“The (state’s) LDF government itself has joined hands with the Adani group,” he said.

He dismissed Nagappan’s contention that influential community organisations such as the Nair Service Society, Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana Yogam, Nadar Service Forum and the Kerala Pulaya Mahasabha were backing the counter-protest.

“Some individuals from these organisations may have joined their long march and protest. But I don’t buy their claim that these organisations as a whole are against us,” Pereira said.

He said the CPM had joined hands with the BJP “after failing to stop us by using the law-enforcement machinery”. He accused the two parties of “trying to discredit us by accusing some of us of receiving illegal foreign funds to run this agitation”.

A Malayalam news channel that is part of a nationwide network had recently reported that a central agency was looking into allegations that the NGO Sakhi, which supports the anti-port agitation, had received Rs 11 crore in its bank account.

Sakhi is run by Aleyamma Vijayan, wife of A.J. Vijayan, elder brother of transport minister Anthony Raju. Sakhi, which works for women’s empowerment, describes itself on its website as a registered public charitable trust with a valid FCRA number, a facility that enables the receipt of foreign donations.

Aleyamma has filed a defamation suit against the news channel.

Similar allegations have been made on social media against Father Theodacious D’Cruz, one of the conveners of the Vizhinjam Samara Samithi.

Of the anti-port protesters’ seven demands, the state government claims to have accepted six except the one seeking a stop to construction of the seaport.

The state government last month formed a four-member expert panel to study whether the seaport has caused coastal erosion in the area.

The protesters have formed their own seven-member independent panel to study the damage and submit a report in three months.