"After speaking truth, DMK frustrated," K Annamalai on Katchatheevu row

COIMBATORE: Tamil Nadu BJP chief and party's Coimbatore candidate, K Annamalai, said the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam is "frustrated" after the Prime Minister "spilled the beans" on Katchatheevu Island controversy.

Speaking to reporters, he also said that Home Minister Amit Shah is scheduled to visit Tamil Nadu for two days."Union Home Minister Amit Shah is coming to Tamil Nadu for two days...The PM is working hard (for the development of the country). Will the Chief Minister (MK Stalin) work like him?....," he said.

On the Katchatheevu row, he said, "After speaking the truth about Kachchatheevu, DMK is frustrated. We are not doing politics on Katchatheevu...," the BJP leader added. PM Modi on Monday targeted the Congress party and DMK over the Katchatheevu island issue.

"Eye opening and startling! New facts reveal how Congress callously gave away #Katchatheevu. This has angered every Indian and reaffirmed in people's minds- we can't ever trust Congress! Weakening India's unity, integrity and interests has been Congress' way of working for 75 years and counting," PM Modi said earlier in a post on X referring to a media report.

The media report is based on an RTI reply received by K Annamalai to his queries on the 1974 agreement between India and Lanka when Indira Gandhi was the prime minister. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK President MK Stalin slammed the BJP for raising the Kachchatheevu issue ahead of the Lok Sabha polls. "How many times has PM Narendra Modi gone to Sri Lanka in the last 10 years? Has he asked Sri Lanka government to give back Kachchatheevu Island even once. When he met Sri Lankan president did he tell that Katchatheevu Island belongs to India. At that time Katchatheevu is not remembered by PM Modi," Stalin said on Tuesday.

The island, located between Rameswaram in India and Sri Lanka, is traditionally used by both Sri Lankan and Indian fishermen. In 1974, the then central government accepted Katchatheevu as Sri Lankan territory under the "Indo-Sri Lankan Maritime Agreement. Earlier in the day, K Annamalai, hit the campaign trail by holding a roadshow to make preparations for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

The roadshow started in Teppakulam Maidanam in Madurai with Annamalai standing on an open-roofed vehicle. Annamalai is contesting from the Coimbatore Lok Sabha constituency in the general elections. On March 28, Annamalai filed his nomination from the Coimbatore parliamentary constituency. A Karnataka cadre IPS officer, Annamalai, resigned from service in 2019 and joined the BJP in 2020. He was appointed BJP state president a year late. All 39 seats of Tamil Nadu will poll in the first phase of the general elections on April 19 and the counting of votes, along with those from other phases, has been scheduled for June 4.

In 2019, the DMK swept the Lok Sabha polls in the state, winning 23 Lok Sabha seats and bagging the lion's share of the total votes polled, at 33.2 per cent. Its ruling ally, Congress, bagged 8 seats, mining 12.9 per cent of the total votes polled, while the CPI won two seats. CPI (M) and IUML won one seat each while the remaining two seats went to Independents. The elections to 543 Lok Sabha seats in the country will be held in seven phases, starting April 19. Nearly 97 crore voters are eligible to get their fingers inked this time.