The Aryavarth Express
Agency(New Delhi): Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) leader and Thoothukudi Member of Parliament, M.K. Kanimozhi, has accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of strategically bringing up the issue of Katchatheevu to distract the public from the ongoing concerns of Chinese encroachment along the Sino-Indian border. This allegation comes amidst the heated atmosphere of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
Kanimozhi, speaking to the media, emphasized that the BJP has historically ignored DMK’s queries about various issues, choosing to bring up Katchatheevu only when the opposition highlights the border issues with China. “All these years, whenever the DMK raised questions, without answering, Kachchatheevu came to mind [of BJP] only when the opposition pointed to the Sino-Indian border issue during the elections,” she stated. Kanimozhi is contesting the elections from Thoothukudi on behalf of the DMK.
The focus on Katchatheevu, a small island that was ceded to Sri Lanka under a 1974 maritime agreement between India and Sri Lanka, has been a longstanding contentious issue in Tamil Nadu politics. The matter resurfaced following a media report which highlighted responses from an RTI filed by Tamil Nadu BJP chief K. Annamalai, discussing informal negotiations between the then central government and the DMK state government over the 1974 treaty.
In response to these developments, Prime Minister Narendra Modi criticized the Congress party’s actions during the agreement’s formation, saying, “Congress callously gave away Katchatheevu. This has angered every Indian and reaffirmed in people’s minds- we can’t ever trust Congress.” This statement indicates the BJP’s attempt to connect historical grievances with current political narratives in order to influence voter sentiment.