CHENNAI: The issue of ceding Katchatheevu to Sri Lanka became a point of intense debate once again in the State Assembly on Tuesday with the Treasury and Opposition Benches wrangling over it. While winding up the debate on the Governor’s address, Leader of Opposition MK Stalin touched upon the plight of Tamil Nadu fishermen and questioned the status of a project relating to deep sea fishing. Making an intervention, Chief Minister O Panneerselvam said, “The fishermen’s issue cropped up only after the ceding of Katchatheevu.”
He recalled that the late chief minister J Jayalalithaa had approached the Supreme Court to regain the island, which remains a bone of contention. Seeking to make a point, Deputy Leader of Opposition Durai Murugan said, the Centre had ceded Katchatheevu without the knowledge of the then DMK government. He also noted that J Jayalalithaa had written to AB Vajpayee, when he was the Prime Minister, saying she had no issues with the ceding of the island.