COIMBATORE: BJP state unit president K Annamalai on Monday sought a public apology from the Congress and DMK for ceding Katchatheevu island to Sri Lanka.

“For committing the mistake of giving away Katchatheevu, the Congress and DMK should stop their political campaign for the next ten days and instead commence a campaign to seek a public apology from the fishermen of Tamil Nadu,” he said to the media in Coimbatore.

Claiming that the BJP has not raked up this issue for political gains and meant to only expose the dubious face of DMK among people, the BJP leader said the central government will make efforts to retrieve the isle. “A permanent solution could be found for the issue only if Katchatheevu is reclaimed,” he said.

Annamalai claimed that the DMK owes responsibility for the killings of hundreds of fishermen before 2014 and as well as for numerous problems faced by them thereafter. It was a planned conspiracy by the then DMK Chief Minister M Karunanidhi and the Congress to cede Katchatheevu to Sri Lanka, he alleged. “The central government wouldn’t have given the isle if Karunanidhi refused acceptance,” Annamalai said.

“Every time, when the Congress and DMK are in alliance, then some portion of the country is usually given away,” he said.