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Tamil Nadu's figure in BJP's target of crossing 400 in the Lok Sabha elections can be considered as one of the biggest challenges before the party. At present, BJP seems to be very aggressive regarding Katchatheevu Island. It seems that this issue will dominate the election campaign. Tamil Nadu has about 1000 km long coastline. There are about 600 villages around which fishermen are settled. About 10 lakh fishermen live on this coast. You may also be wondering why BJP is now raising this island issue so much.
Sources say that the fishermen community has influence in many assembly constituencies and Lok Sabha constituencies. With their vote the outcome of the election can reach a decisive level. This time in the elections, a triangular contest can be seen between the DMK alliance currently in government in the state, NDA and AIADMK.
DMK accused of neglecting fishermen
DMK is continuously raising the issue of neglect of fishermen against the Modi government at the Centre. The party leader alleges that the Modi government provides financial assistance to Sri Lanka while Sri Lanka arrests Indian fishermen on false charges. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said in a press conference on Monday that in 20 years, Sri Lanka caught 6184 Indian fishermen and during this period seized 1175 Indian fishing boats. This issue will remain a hot topic at the local level as fishermen in Karaikal have announced to go on an indefinite strike from April 4 and boycott the Lok Sabha elections, demanding the release of fishermen arrested by the Sri Lankan Army. People complain that in 2014, leader Sushma Swaraj had promised to resolve the Sri Lankan dispute during the party's campaign in Rameshwaram. Although Sushma Swaraj took over the Ministry of External Affairs after coming to power, the situation remains the same.
At the same time, political analyst Shekhar Iyer says that BJP has its own promises regarding the elections. He says that fishermen face a lot of problems. They had small boats and motors so that they could not go into the deep waters of the ocean. Since the maritime zone is clear, Sri Lanka keeps saying that they have come within their limits. Besides this, there was no technical capacity for fishing. The BJP government at the Center claims that it has tried to improve the condition of fishermen through the Blue Economy concept. However, questions remain regarding the National Fisheries Policy that came in 2020. A section associated with this community has also been accusing this policy of benefiting corporates.
What is the equation of South India?
In the last assembly elections, the DMK-led alliance had won 38 out of 39 seats. AIADMK, which won 37 seats in 2014, got only one seat in the last elections. BJP's performance was also very disappointing. In 2014 he got 5.56% votes. Which decreased to 3.66% in 2019.
Where did this island issue come from?
Let us tell you here that politics has heated up regarding Katchatheevu island lying between India and Sri Lanka. PM Modi shared a post on social media platform X on Sunday and wrote that Congress has deliberately given Katchatheevu island to Sri Lanka. There is anger among Indians about this and one thing has become clear from this that Congress cannot be trusted.
It is known that Tamil Nadu BJP President K Annamalai had filed an RTI, in response to which it was revealed that in 1974, a treaty was signed between the then PM Indira Gandhi government and Sri Lankan President Srimavo Bandaranaike. Under which India handed over Katchatheevu island to Sri Lanka. This matter has heated up after PM Modi's post. Congress leader Jairam Ramesh claimed that 6 lakh Tamils from Sri Lanka could have been brought back to India under the treaty.
where is the island
Katchatheevu is an island 25 km northwest of Rameshwar in Tamil Nadu. After the 1974 treaty, this island went to Sri Lanka. This treaty also determined the water boundary between the two countries. At present there is no official border dispute between India and Sri Lanka. But despite this, how has this island become a barrier between the two countries? This island connects the Bay of Bengal to the Arabian Sea. Which is spread over 285 acres. If we compare its area, it will be about three and a half times larger than the JNU campus of Delhi. While the red one will be slightly smaller than the fort.