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New Delhi:
Congress MP Manikam Tagore on Monday attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for raising the issue of Kachathivu Island and challenged him to wrest the island from Sri Lanka if he is “so concerned” about Tamil Nadu.
“If he cared so much about Tamil Nadu, would he take back Kachattiu? I challenged PM Modi. They failed,” Tagore said hours after the Prime Minister’s ‘X’ post on Kachattiu news agency ANI said.
The senior Congress leader further assured that if Tamil fishermen in Ramnad district were attacked, the Congress would clamor to wrest the island from Sri Lanka.
“We know very well that if our fishermen, our brothers in Ramnad region are attacked, we will raise our voices to recapture Kachatiu. But, for ten years, Prime Minister Modi has failed to do so,” Tagore said.
Asserting that the BJP’s electoral chances in Tamil Nadu are slim, Tagore said: “Prime Minister Modi should stop this cheap strategy. He was rejected by Tamil Nadu. They did not win even a single victory in Tamil Nadu There is no seat available. Annamalai will not even come in second place. He is fighting for third place in Tamil Nadu.”
Tagore claimed that the BJP was using “diversionary tactics” in Tamil Nadu as people in the state rejected them.
“The problem with the BJP, the RSS and Prime Minister Modi is that people in Tamil Nadu reject them and they want a diversionary tactic,” the Congress leader said.
“Their discrimination against Tamil Nadu is well known. AIIMS Madurai has not started yet, all projects in Tamil Nadu have not started yet. There is only a cornerstone, only one brick everywhere… for this , they are raising money and this issue originated in 1974,” he added.
When explaining the historical background of India’s cession of Kachathivu Island to Sri Lanka, Tagore said, “The Indian government headed by Indira Gandhi signed a treaty called the Indira Gandhi-Sirimavo Banda Ranak Accord. At that time, in order to save 600,000 Tamils… because they were locals in the old Ramnad area, this Kachatiu Island was given to the Sri Lankan government by the Indian government. To do so It’s about saving the Tamil people.”
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
