‘False propaganda on Katchatheevu has been spread in T.N. for 50 years’

False propaganda that the Katchatheevu island was ceded to Sri Lanka without the knowledge of the State government has been spread in Tamil Nadu for over 50 years, senior BJP leader and Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Tuesday.

Addressing the media in Chennai on the sidelines of a Viksit Bharat ambassadors programme, Ms. Sitharaman said that the Katchatheevu issue pertained to the country’s national security and sovereignty.

“The reason we talk about Katchatheevu island now, which was ceded to Sri Lanka in 1974, is because of the false propaganda that has been spread for more than 50 years that it was given away without the knowledge of the Tamil Nadu government,” she said.

Ms. Sitharaman asked whether the then Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, M. Karunanidhi, opposed the remarks made by former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi about Katchatheevu being “a piece of rock”.

The Minister also slammed the Congress, saying it had not been able to return to power in Tamil Nadu since 1967, and “had been surviving by holding on to the crutches of State parties”. The party’s vote share had declined to 4%5%, she said, adding that the Congress was hostile to the interests of Tamil Nadu and should explain its stance on giving up India’s rights over Katchatheevu.

Fishermen issue

Ms. Sitharaman said that the Narendra Modiled government at the Centre had taken various steps to secure the release of the fishermen arrested by the Sri Lankan Navy. The External Affairs Ministry, in coordination with the Fisheries Ministry, had also been taking steps to retrieve the impounded boats of she said.

Attempts were being made to scuttle the ‘Modi Ki Guarantee’ schemes aimed at helping common people, she said, adding: “The Tamil Nadu government has periodically tried to present the Central schemes as its own. In some cases, stickers were placed on Modi’s name. Schemes such as the distribution of free foodgrains and the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana were misappropriated by the State government,” she alleged.

She said that the State government had failed to utilise the ₹950 crore released by the Union government, before Cyclone Michaung struck, to take preventive measures.“Will the State government make public the details of the ₹5,000 crore spent on building drains in Chennai city,” she asked. the fishermen,

Did then CM Karunanidhi oppose the remarks made by former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi about Katchatheevu being a piece of rock?

Union Finance Minister