The opposition Congress in Kerala took to the high seas off Alappuzha on Saturday, staging a dramatic boat protest against the Centre’s decision to allow deep-sea mining along the state’s coast. Led by AICC General Secretary (Organisation) K C Venugopal, the demonstration saw fishermen, party leaders, and workers sail 15 nautical miles into the ocean, raising slogans against the policy they claim threatens the livelihoods of coastal communities.

Venugopal, speaking amid the waves, demanded the complete withdrawal of the deep-sea mining proposal, arguing it would devastate thousands of fisherfolk across Kerala’s coastal districts. “The Centre is ignoring the pleas of fishing communities and their MPs, pushing ahead despite the clear harm to their lives and the environment,” he said, according to a Congress statement. The party released video clips showing boats bobbing in the sea, voices united in defiance.

The protest follows last week’s Kerala Assembly resolution, which urged the Centre to scrap the plan, warning of its economic and ecological toll—particularly on fish resources, biodiversity, and fishermen’s livelihoods. The state has criticized amendments to the Offshore Areas Mineral (Development and Regulation) Act, 2002, as anti-state. The Centre’s move to auction sand blocks for mining in five sectors—Kollam South, Kollam North, Alappuzha, Ponnani, and Chavakkad—has fueled the uproar.

Tensions between Kerala’s ruling LDF and the opposition UDF have flared, with Congress rejecting a joint protest call from the Left, accusing it of tacitly backing the mining initiative. Fishermen unions, under the Kerala Fisheries Coordination Committee, had earlier staged a 24-hour hartal last month over the same issue. Saturday’s high-seas action underscores the Congress’s bid to champion the coastal cause, amplifying a growing resistance to the Centre’s controversial policy.