BJP-Cong slugfest on over ceding Katchatheevu to SL
He also raised the matter later at his rally in Meerut and linked the issue of the arrest of Tamil Nadu fishermen and the seizure of their boats by the Lankan forces to the island treaty.
PM Modi
NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday led a BJP charge against the Congress for “callously” giving away Katchatheevu island to Sri Lanka, slamming it as yet another “anti-national” act of the party for which the country is still paying the price.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge hit back asking why the government did not act to take back the island in its 10 years in power and termed Modi’s attack as poll-eve desperation.
Modi seized on a media report - based on an RTI reply to State BJP president K Annamalai received on the decision of the then Indira Gandhi government in 1974 to hand over the territory in Palk Strait to the neighbouring country - to target the Congress, an ally of the ruling DMK.
“Eye-opening and startling! New facts reveal how Congress callously gave away Katchatheevu. This has angered every Indian and reaffirmed in people’s minds- we can’t ever trust Congress,” he said on X.
He also raised the matter later at his rally in Meerut and linked the issue of the arrest of Tamil Nadu fishermen and the seizure of their boats by the Lankan forces to the island treaty.
Meanwhile, senior leader Amit Shah said the Indira Gandhi government’s decision showed that the Congress was against the unity and integrity of India and Nirmala Sitharaman said the ruling DMK should stop its “misinformation” on the Katchatheevu issue.
Reacting to the charge, Kharge said the island was given to Sri Lanka as part of a friendly agreement in 1974 and reminded the government that it too had undertaken a similar “friendly gesture” towards Bangladesh with an exchange of border enclaves.
“Pradhan Mantri Narendra Modi ji, You have suddenly woken up to the issues of territorial integrity and national security in your 10th year of misrule. Perhaps, elections are the trigger. Your desperation is palpable (sic),” he said in a post on X.
DMK organisation secretary RS Bharathi said the party had held agitations and public meetings to oppose the ceding of Katchatheevu in 1974. The DMK’s position has been made amply clear multiple times by late patriarch M Karunanidhi and party president MK Stalin.
