New Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s recent visit to Great Nicobar Island has triggered a political row. While the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha flagged ecological and social concerns over the proposed mega infrastructure project, the BJP reacted to the visit by accusing him of misrepresenting its strategic necessity and claiming that he was helping India’s rivals.“This opposition is only because this project directly threatens China’s strategic interests,” the party said in a post on its official X handle. It also denied the project would have any adverse environmental impact, as per reports. It also said George Soros, Hungarian-American billionaire investor, was “pulling the strings” to “sabotage” the Great Nicobar project.𝐃𝐄𝐂𝐎𝐃𝐄𝐃: 𝐑𝐚𝐡𝐮𝐥 𝐆𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐡𝐢’𝐬 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐆𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐍𝐢𝐜𝐨𝐛𝐚𝐫 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭. ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/cBDh7Zc9X1— BJP (@BJP4India) April 30, 2026Gandhi, who visited the Andaman and Nicobar Islands on April 29, met families and ex-servicemen in Gandhi Nagar. During the interaction, he said that land in the islands was being taken from local communities and handed over to large corporate interests such as the Adani Group. He said this was happening at the cost of tribal communities who were being denied their rights under the Forest Rights Act.He reportedly termed the BJP-led Union government’s proposed Great Nicobar infrastructure project “one of the biggest scams and gravest crimes against this country’s natural and tribal heritage” and billed it “destruction dressed in development’s language”.#WATCH | Vijayapuram, Andaman & Nicobar Islands: Lok Sabha LoP and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi says, “…Your land is being taken away from you and being given to Adani and other big businessmen. The Forest Rights Act isn’t being implemented there. Settlers and tribals aren’t… pic.twitter.com/zPeHXEaXpu— ANI (@ANI) April 29, 2026The visit came amid escalating concerns regarding the impact of the Great Nicobar Island Development Project, which includes a proposed transshipment port, an international airport, township infrastructure and other related facilities. Gandhi’s remarks were echoed on Sunday (May 3) in a detailed statement issued by Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on X.Rattled by @RahulGandhi’s visit to Great Nicobar Island on April 28, 2026, the Modi Govt issued a press release on the project and is now diverting attention away from the impending ecological disaster. Here is our detailed response to that press note of May 1, 2026. pic.twitter.com/6yeHEovgrj— Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) May 3, 2026The four-page detailed note cited ecological risks, impact on biodiversity, including turtle nesting habitats, concerns over tribal rights and questions over transparency. It criticised the inconsistencies in official estimates of tree felling in particular, saying: “The Modi Government’s position on the number of trees to be cut… has been inconsistent from the very beginning. Which one is to be believed?”The press release makes the claim that the total number of trees in the 160 sq. kms of project area is 18.65 lakh and that 7.11 lakh trees are to be cut within 49.86 sq. km…. The number of trees to be cut according to the May 2022 minutes of the expert appraisal committee was 8.52 lakhs. In a statement in Parliament in August 2025, the Union Minister of Environment, Forests and Climate Change claimed that the trees to be cut was 9.64 lakh. The latest press release puts that number at 7.11 lakh. Which one is to be believed?As The Wire reported on November 29, 2020, the environment ministry directed its Expert Appraisal Committee to meet at least twice a month to speed up clearances for the project, despite the body’s heavy workload, sometimes considering 60 to 80 projects in a single sitting. The report noted, citing experts, that the issue was not the frequency of meetings but the quality and independence of the committee, since several members lacked relevant expertise, were appointed as “non-officials”, and in some cases had potential conflicts of interest, while even their selection process lacked transparency.Ramesh’s statement reiterated multiple concerns that have dogged the project, beginning with its ecological impact. “The Government’s claim that only 1.82% of the total land of the island group is being used for the project is irrelevant and misleading,” it says, adding that it ignores the “ecological and biological richness of the Great Nicobar ecosystem”.It adds that compensatory afforestation was inadequate for a region like the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. “A tree cut in Nicobar can simply not be replaced by two, five, or even 10 trees planted elsewhere. It is a non-logical and non-viable proposition.”The statement further alleges lack of transparency. “There has been an absolute lack of transparency regarding the project,” it says, claiming that information has been denied under the Right to Information Act. The party had earlier sought an impartial review of the entire development proposal.On September 6, 2022, The Wire had reported on a March 2021 NITI Aayog expression of interest inviting consultants to prepare a “holistic master plan” for the Great Nicobar Island project, following an earlier request for proposals issued in September 2020. The 126 page pre-feasibility report prepared by AECOM India, titled ‘Holistic Development of Great Nicobar Island at Andaman and Nicobar Islands’, was based on this process and was then available on the environment ministry’s Parivesh portal.It proposed a Rs 75,000 crore plan including an international container transshipment terminal, a greenfield international airport, a power plant and a township, and envisages accommodating 6.5 lakh people by 2050 over 166 sq km, much of it covered by coastal ecosystems and tropical forests.However, as The Wire reported, an RTI application seeking the project’s “vision document” for these plans was denied, with NITI Aayog stating that it did not have any such document. The report noted that responses to nearly a dozen RTI applications filed with authorities including the lieutenant governor’s office, the Andaman and Nicobar administration, NITI Aayog and relevant Union ministries were consistently denied.“Not just a vision – a full-fledged 126-page report exists and a plan of Rs 75,000 crore has already been drawn out for Great Nicobar in response to the call from the NITI Aayog,” a senior researcher at NITI Aayog had told Pankaj Sekhsaria, an expert on the Andaman and Nicobar Islands who wrote the piece for The Wire. “What we have here now, however, is the Aayog telling us nothing exists at all. It can’t get more Kafkaesque than this,” the NITI Aayog source had said.BJP’s response: Great Nicobar project is essential, Congress is ‘with China’The BJP, however, rejected Gandhi’s criticism and accused him of politicising the issue. Party leaders said the project was not going to hurt the environment but strengthen India’s maritime presence and strategic capabilities in the region. They argued that the transshipment port and other infrastructure would enhance India’s position in the Indian Ocean.Not just that, the party claimed that the project would be transformative: “India is on the verge of a maritime transformation!” The transshipment port would “change the game”, that the project is “more than just about infrastructure” but would “reclaim” India’s maritime sovereignty and build a “truly self-sufficient” India.Soros pulling the strings…The puppet, aka RaGA, in action. pic.twitter.com/AMlTQy89MO— BJP (@BJP4India) May 3, 2026The BJP has also alleged that while the government is advancing a project intended to counter China’s strategic presence in the region, Rahul Gandhi’s criticism was politically timed and weakened that effort. According to the party, the project has received necessary clearances, including from the National Green Tribunal, and is moving ahead as planned.Air Chief Marshal (Retd) R.K.S. Bhadauria, who is now a member of the BJP, pointed to the strategic importance of having a port near the route of China’s energy shipments, with the conflict in West Asia demonstrating the impact of such maritime leverage. At the same time, his party continued to level accusations related to China, George Soros, and so on.कांग्रेस का चीन प्रेम न तब छुपा था, न आज छुप रहा है।जब-जब भारत मजबूत होने की कोशिश करता है, कांग्रेस का हाथ चीन के साथ नजर आता है।इतिहास गवाह है, कांग्रेस ने हर बार चीन को चुना, भारत को नहीं। pic.twitter.com/ZNObTV4DaC— BJP (@BJP4India) May 3, 2026“The project ensures optimised land use, coordinated ecological management, and long-term regional benefits, while remaining fully compliant with Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) regulations and statutory approvals,” the BJP statement said, as per IANS.What experts warn aboutThe Wire’s Aathira Perinchery had reported on July 6, 2022 on the minutes of an Expert Appraisal Committee meeting that showed that the proposed Great Nicobar project would involve the felling of around 8.5 lakh trees, apart from diversion of about 130 square kilometres of forest land and reclamation of nearly 300 hectares from the sea, and that it would affect more than 1,700 people, including members of the Shompen and Nicobarese communities.The report, citing ecologist Kartik Shanker, noted that the project would impact critical habitats such as Galathea Bay, an important nesting site for leatherback turtles, even as other experts pointed out that proposed mitigation measures (including wildlife sanctuaries) were not just inadequate but failed to take into account the rights and livelihoods of local residents.It is undeniable that the Andaman and Nicobar islands need development, Shanker told The Wire. “But it has to be balanced with the environmental concerns.”The Nicobar island complex is the only region in India that is part of the Sundaland biodiversity hotspot (which also comprises Borneo and Sumatra in Indonesia). The southernmost tip of Great Nicobar is just around 200 kilometres as the crow flies from the northernmost tip of the Aceh province in Indonesia. The island, therefore, has fauna and flora that you won’t find elsewhere in India.