Stumped TNCC to raise Katchatheevu issue with PM

Finding itself in a tight spot with the Centre's stance on Katchatheevu coming under strong attack from other political parties in the state, the Tamil Nadu unit of Congress today said it would raise the issue with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
"Before filing the affidavit in the Supreme Court on Katchatheevu issue, the Government of India should have taken the opinion of political parties in Tamil Nadu. Whatever information we have, we would have given," Tamil Nadu Congress Committee (TNCC) President B S Gnanadesikan told PTI here.
"I will take up this issue with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh," he said.

Asked if the TNCC felt that the Centre's position on Katchatheevu might hurt it electorally at the next year's Lok Sabha elections, he said, "these type of issues will never be a deciding factor electorally."
In response to Chief Minister Jayalalithaa's petition seeking to declare as unconstitutional the agreement under which Katchatheevu was ceded to Sri Lanka in 1974, the Centre in its recent affidavit in the Supreme Court has said no territory belonging to the country was ceded nor sovereignty relinquished.
In December 2008, Jayalalithaa (then Leader of the Opposition) filed a petition in the Supreme Court seeking declaration of 1974 and 1976 agreements between New Delhi and Colombo on ceding of Katchatheevu to Sri Lanka as unconstitutional.

Both the AIADMK and the DMK have strongly condemned the Centre's stance on Katchatheevu that was reflected in its affidavit in the Supreme Court.

Karunanidhi had said Katchatheevu fell under the erstwhile Ramanathapuram Zamin's territory and that it was given to a Dutch company on lease.
In a scathing attack on the government in the Rajya Sabha, AIADMK leader V Maitreyan had said the entire Tamil Nadu was shocked by the Centre's stand and described it as the "greatest betrayal".
While the BJP has demanded an all party meeting on Katchatheevu besides urging the Centre to recall its affidavit, the CPI wanted the Centre to reopen the agreement and renegotiate it with Sri Lanka.