Chennai, June 20: AIADMK Supremo J Jayalalithaa today urged Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi to take all steps to retrieve Katchatheevu, an islet ceded to Sri Lanka, by using his influence with the Central government, to sustain the livelihood of the Indian fishermen.
In a statement here, she described as a joke, Mr Karunanidhi’s announcement in the State Assembly that he was prepared to bring in a resolution demanding retrieval of Katchatheevu.
”Instead of writing letters or sending telegrams, the Chief Minister, who bargained plum portfolios in the Union Cabinet
for his family members after hectic parleys, should adopt a similar approach in the Katchatheevu issue also”, she added.
She also accused him of not doing anything on the issue, despite being part of the Congress-led UPA Government at the Centre.
Alleging that he had prior information about the ceding of Katchatheevu to Sri Lanka in 1974, Ms Jayalalithaa wanted to know why the then DMK Government headed by Mr Karunanidhi did not adopt a resolution in the Assembly or launch an agitation in this regard.
—-Agencies