If Modi was really keen on Katchatheevu, he could have reclaimed that island during his 10 years in office, he said.
Will Foreign Minister Mr. Jaishankar please refer to the RTI reply dated 27-1-2015...The Reply justified the circumstances under which India acknowledged that a small island belonged to Sri Lanka," Chidambaram said.
The BJP is hopeful that the issue will come in handy in its efforts to gain political traction in the Dravidian territory during the Lok Sabha polls, more so as it involves neighbouring Sri Lanka whose treatment of its own Tamilian citizens and Tamil Nadu fishermen has long been a charged political issue in the state.
Actor-politician Vijay, founder-chief of Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK), will be its chief ministerial candidate for the 2026 Assembly election. The party announced this at an executive committee meeting where they also ruled out any alliance with the ruling DMK or the BJP.
The BJP is now inventing new angles to keep its campaign relevant -- even if it's old wine in an old bottle, which is what the allegation on 'Katchatheevu' is, notes N Sathiya Moorthy.
Rulers in New Delhi and their political aides in sensitive states like Tamil Nadu have to be doubly careful not to provoke a situation whose consequences may be much more than visible now to the naked eye, notes N Sathiya Moorthy.
The Centre has taken the controversial stand that Katchatheevu in the Palk Strait off Rameswaram coast in Tamil Nadu was never part of India, but a senior geologist and remote sensing expert says remote sensing satellite data shows that the islet was geologically linked to Indian land mass.
'Modi is trying avenues to convince people why they should vote for the BJP.'
The statements coming out of India on 'reclaiming' Kachchatheevu island from Sri Lanka have 'no ground', the Sri Lankan Minister of Fisheries Douglas Devananda has said.
The Bharatiya Janata Party is hopeful that the issue will come handy to its efforts to gain political traction in Dravidian state as it gears up for the Lok Sabha polls.
With the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and allies far ahead in all the 39 Lok Sabha constituencies in the state and 1 in neighbouring Puducherry, it appears the outcome, for the Stalin-led Dravidian party will be similar to the success of the popular flick Baahubali.
Tamil Nadu government on Saturday said it has decided to move the Supreme Court for expediting a pending case seeking that the 1974 and 1976 accords under which Katchatheevu islet was ceded to Sri Lanka by India be declared illegal to pave way for its retrieval.
"I am fighting a big battle to save my country from the corrupt. That is why they are behind bars today and not getting bail even from the Supreme Court," Modi said.
Annamalai has faced criticism for the breakup between the AIADMK and the BJP, but BJP leaders say 'he attracts youth, who needs change'.
'When you weigh anti-incumbency against the Centre against anti-incumbency against the state, anti-incumbency against the Centre will triumph as this is a parliamentary election.'
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Tuesday targeted Jawaharlal Nehru and claimed that past mistakes were responsible for the problems such as Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (POK) and occupation of some parts of the Indian territory by China.
BJP workers depend on Annamalai's popularity to emerge victorious. He has has made 100 promises to be fulfilled in 500 days and assurances include cleaning up rivers, an international airport and food vans named after former Chief Minister K Kamaraj.
Voters include 8.4 crore men, 8.23 crore women and 11,371 from third gender. There are as many as 35.67 lakh first time voters, besides 3.51 crore young voters in the age group of 20-29 years.
Constituencies that are going to the polls in the first phase, slated for April 19, have just 19 days for campaigning. Contrast that with those going to polls in the 7th phase, notes N Sathiya Moorthy.
Indications are that the DMK combine will win more seats than the AIADMK and BJP, but is facing a tough fight in about half a dozen from the rest, predicts N Sathiya Moorthy of the electoral contest in Tamil Nadu.
'During Congress rule, the government used to get both the fishermen and the boats released whenever the Sri Lankan navy apprehended them.' 'Under BJP rule, only the fishermen are being released.'
Modi praised Tamil Nadu as a special place and lauded the Tamil language as eternal and its culture as global.
They also pelted stones at the fishermen before driving them away
'Jail was very crowded, we were 56 people crammed together. All 56 of us had to use only one toilet'
If the fishermen were not allowed to fish in their traditional areas (Katchatheevu), they would be left with no other alternative except to commit suicide like distressed farmers, they said.
In a goodwill gesture, Sri Lankan Naval personnel, often accused of using strong-arm tactics, on Thursday offered refreshments to a group of Indian fishermen from in Rameswaram when they were fishing near Katchatheevu.
The Sri Lankan navy on Sunday allegedly took away forcibly the catch netted by fishermen who put to sea from Rameswaram, when they were fishing near Katchatheevu in the Palk Straits, fisheries department officials said.
The Lankan Navy also seized three boats.
Observing that Indian fishermen hailing from Tamil Nadu have been "traditionally fishing" in contentious Katchatheevu, Chief Minister Jayalalithaa on Thursday urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to ask Colombo to stop its navy from harassing them.
Sri Lankan naval personnel allegedly beat the four fishermen with nylon ropes off Katchatheevu, an islet ceded to Lanka in the 1970s, fisheries department officials said.
Twenty-two Tamil Nadu fishermen were injured in two separate attacks allegedly by the Sri Lankan navy which also briefly detained 16 of them while fishing near Katchatheevu in the Palk Straits, in the second such incident in as many days.
At least 34 Indian fishermen have been arrested and their boats seized by the Sri Lankan Navy for allegedly fishing in the country's waters, authorities in Colombo said on Tuesday.
With this, the number of fishermen arrested for allegedly fishing in Lankan territorial waters have gone up to 44 since July 3.
The arrest comes a day after Tamil Nadu Chief Minister O Panneerselvam asked the Centre to send a 'firm message' to the island nation over continued apprehension of the state's fishermen.
The Sri Lankan Navy on Sunday arrested 17 fishermen along with their three boats when they were fishing near Katchatheevu, police said Rameshwaram.
Indian fishermen trawling near Katchatheevu were in for a big surprise on Sunday when Sri Lankan navalmen not only allowed them to fish but also offered them soft drinks and sweets.
The fishermen were charged with poaching fish in their territorial waters using the banned fishing net, he added.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi on Tuesday said India should verify reports about Sri Lanka's proposed intention to set up a military base in Katchatheevu, saying "the unilateral action" was a great cause of concern for fishermen and the state government.
Taking strong exception to the recent arrest of Indian fishermen by Sri Lankan Navy, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa on Thursday requested the Centre to send out an "unequivocal" and "unambiguous" message to ensure that such acts cease hereafter.
Taking up the matter with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chief Minister E K Palaniswami, in a letter, said the state government was "extremely" concerned over such incidents
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