The Indian Express (Delhi Edition)
Why Katchatheevu, a speck of an island, is causing a splash in TN poll waters
With this, BJP hopes to send multiple messages – invoking Tamil sentiments to playing the national interest card
CAN AN uninhabited island, spread over 285 acres, 1.6 km in length and no more than 300 metres broad, give the BJP the space it needs to plant its feet in Tamil Nadu?
The party on Monday doubled down on its claim that the Congress government of Indira Gandhi gave away the Katchatheevu island in 1974 to Sri Lanka and kept this “hidden”, hence apparently proving the grand old party's inadequacy to protect the country's territory.
What has the BJP said?
The allegation was first made by Tamil Nadu BJP president K Annamalai based on an RTI, and was then taken up by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on social media. On Sunday, Modi posted: “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!”
On Monday, the PM followed up with a post saying: "Rhetoric aside, DMK has done nothing to safeguard Tamil Nadu's interests. New details emerging on Katchatheevuhaveunmaskedthe DMK'S double standards totally." Jaishankar too addressed a press conference,allegingthatthedmk had “connived” with the Indira government on the issue.
What explains its focus?
The focus on Katchatheevu kills several birds with one stone for the BJP. It appeals to Tamil sentiments in a state where regional pride carries much resonance, and has been a major obstacle in the efforts of the BJP, with its nationalist agenda, to make inroads there.
It also puts the DMK, which is the senior partner of the INDIA bloc in the state, on the defensive, especially by linking the emotive issue of capture of Indian fishermen in Lankan waters – a matter that has been raised by parties cutting across the political divide in Tamil Nadu, including the DMK and its allies – to territorial control over Katchatheevu.
A senior BJP leader said: “Prime Minister Modi has for long been trying to position the Congress as a party that has made a lot of mistakes across history, against its own claims of a party of freedom fighters or as a party that won freedom for the country. When the Congress tries to paint the BJP as a party devoid of any glorious past and politicises that issue, the BJP has to take the sheen away and expose the Congress's vulnerabilities.”
Plus, with the Opposition attacking the government over territory “lost” to China in Ladakh, this is one way to blunt the issue.
What is BJP’S long-term plan?
Any space it can carve for itself in the South is a positive for the BJP, where it is still placed behind other parties in most states, and in direct fight with the Congress in Karnataka and Telangana. “Now the party is trying to take on the DMK,” the BJP leader said, adding that the gains may not be visible as far as immediate elections go.
The BJP has invested a lot of energy in Tamil Nadu, where the political landscape remains dominated by the regional parties DMK and AIADMK, with the Congress on the slide. Spotting an opening, one of the first things the BJP did was to pick K Annamalai, a former IPS officer, as its young, aggressive state chief.
The BJP has also tried to shed the impression of a party committed to a monolithic nationalism, by professing its admiration for Tamil language, literature and culture. The Narendra Modi government has been holding Tamil Sangamams to mark the ageold links between Tamil Nadu and Varanasi, and the traditional Tamil sceptre called Sengol – meant to symbolise a ruler’s adherence to dharmic principles – was carried by the PM himself into the new Parliament building as part of its inauguration.
Modi often invokes Tamil culture in his messages, from wearing a veshti (lungi) on his visits to the state and during his interview to the Tamil channel Thanthi Sunday, to quoting Tamil classic Thirukkuralandpoetsubramania Bharati in his speeches.
Can the BJP succeed?
BJP leaders admit that the impact might not show in the current polls, but see it as part of a long-term project to win a new territory to its side. While its attempts to reunite with the AIADMK were not successful, the party is confident about making gains this time, from the 0 seats it won in 2019 and 1 in 2014.
The Dmk-led alliance that swept the 2019 elections has several things going for it though, including the fact that this is one state where the INDIA bloc, a combination of the DMK, Congress, Left parties and IUML, has had smooth sailing.