Katchatheevu Island Row: Why has the controversy resurfaced ahead of LS polls? What did India do 50 years ago?
Katchatheevu Island row, saying the ruling alliance parties of Tamil Nadu have done nothing to safeguard the state’s interests. The Prime Minister’s charge on the opposition escalates the controversy in the run-up to the Lok Sabha Elections 2024. “Rhetoric aside, DMK has done nothing to safeguard Tamil Nadu’s interests.
New details emerging on Katchatheevu have unmasked the DMK’s double standards totally," PM Modi said in a post on X, citing a report by the Times of India. Katchatheevu, a tiny island between India and Sri Lanka in the Palk Strait, has resurfaced as a political flashpoint in Tamil Nadu, where the BJP is trying to make inroads ahead of the Lok Sabha Elections. The island, a disputed area, was ceded to Sri Lanka by the Congress government headed by late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, through an agreement in 1974. But, led by PM Modi, the BJP has launched a scathing attack on the Opposition Congress and the DMK for "callously" giving away the strategic island to Sri Lanka.
The PM dug into a report on Monday that said the then Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, M Karunanidhi, had given consent to the agreement, despite the DMK's public posturing against the deal. Also Read: Katchatheevu island row: PM Modi calls out DMK's ‘double standard’, says ‘…did nothing to safeguard TN’s interest' Soon after PM Modi’s posts on Monday, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said the country's first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, wanted to give away the island to Sri Lanka. The issue has resurfaced after a media report based on an RTI reply to a query filed by Tamil Nadu BJP chief K Annamalai.
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