Tamil Nadu CM rakes up Katchatheevu issue; BJP-AIADMK hit back
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "Tamil Nadu CM rakes up Katchatheevu issue; BJP-AIADMK hit back")
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin Photograph: (Credit: ANI)
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin attacked India's ruling BJP over their alleged inaction in retrieving the Katchatheevu island that India acceded to neighbour Sri Lanka, back in 1974.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin attacked India's ruling BJP over their alleged inaction in retrieving the Katchatheevu island that India acceded to neighbour Sri Lanka, back in 1974. Speaking at a Government function in Ramanathapuram district which shares a maritime boundary with Sri Lanka, MK Stalin said that the biggest problem faced by Tamil Nadu fishermen is the attacks by the Sri Lankan Navy. He raked up the decades-old issue and targeted the BJP Government over their handling of it.
"We (DMK Government) continue to condemn the actions of the Sri Lankan Navy and protest against it, but the Union BJP Government has done nothing to save our fishermen. We passed an assembly resolution saying that Katchatheevu should be retrieved, we forwarded it to the Union Government. BJP Govt should have formally conveyed it to the Sri Lankan Government, they are refusing to even do that. PM Modi who went to Sri Lanka also refused to take it up," Stalin alleged. He also questioned if the Indian External Affairs Minister has countered his Sri Lankan counterpart's remarks over their unwillingness to return the disputed island.
Referring to the BJP-led NDA delegation that visited the stampede site in Karur, Stalin questioned why the BJP did not send such delegations to violence-hit Manipur or the Kumbh Mela stampede, among others. He alleged that the BJP sent a delegation to Tamil Nadu for political gains, as the state heads to the polls in summer 2026.
BJP's former Tamil Nadu State President K. Annamalai hit back at Stalin, questioning the Chief Minister for not visiting the homes of 66 people who lost their lives after consuming illicit liquor, for attending a political meeting in Delhi when South Tamil Nadu was affected by floods, for not visiting a village where human waste was mixed in the water tanks used by the Dalit community, among others. BJP leaders also pointed out multiple instances of police brutality and custodial deaths under the DMK rule.
BJP also questioned why the Tamil Nadu government did not handover the Karur stampede probe to the CBI, when DMK party leaders' role is under scrutiny. BJP's ally and Tamil Nadu's opposition party countered the DMK over the Katchatheevu issue, pointing out the DMK was in power at the state and DMK's present day ally Congress was ruling the country when Katchatheevu was acceded to Sri Lanka.
Leader of Opposition and former Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswami queried why the DMK and its 39 Members of Parlaiment were not taking up the Katchatheevu issue in parliament.
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"Failure in governance, failure in financial management, failure in maintaining law and order, failure in ensuring women's safety, failure in controlling drug trafficking, failure in controlling inflation," Palaniswami said in a social media post about the DMK Government's rule.
