CHENNAI: Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting Anurag Thakur on Monday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visits to the state are giving Chief Mnister MK Stalin the jitters. Thakur said the chief minister should indeed be happy over the visits, as the people of the state love Modi, who in turn, loves TN, its rich culture and history.
Answering queries from reporters, the union minister sought an explanation from the DMK and Congress about the ceding of the Katchatheevu islet to Sri Lanka in 1974 and asked the parties to “come out clean” on the issue.
Thakur said while the PM has been giving a lot to the fishermen that includes subsidies, policies, and programmes, the DMK and Congress have given away Katchatheevu to Sri Lanka. He wondered why the DMK and Congress have been silent on the issue.
“Why have they (DMK and Congress) given an important piece of land to Lanka and hurt the sentiments of fishermen and Tamils? They should come out open and respond to this,” Thakur asked.
The minister said people want to see Modi become PM for the third term so that India will become the third largest economy in the world. He also canvassed votes for BJP candidates Pon Balaganapathy, Tamilisai Soundararajan and Vinoj P Selvam.
Meanwhile, Thakur and union minister L Murugan inaugurated Tamil Janam TV. Speaking on the occasion, Thakur said there is a need to develop regional language channels for disseminating quality news content. Tamil Janam channel has a professional background and will provide news content, nationalist ideology and Tamil identity with a focus on spirituality.
Murugan said, “The dream to own our own television channel and newspaper has been there for around three decades, and by the launch of Janam TV, this wish has been fulfilled.