Does Anyone Live On Katchatheevu? Questions Digvijaya Singh; BJP Hits Back At Congress

The war of words between the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress over the Katchatheevu island intensified on Wednesday ahead of the high-stakes Lok Sabha election after Digvijaya Singh called the issue ‘nonsense’ and asked, “Does anyone live on that island?”

Singh’s comments came after the issue of Katchatheevu was raised by Prime Minister Narendra Modi once again during an election rally in Tamil Nadu this morning, saying that the Congress and DMK kept the state in the dark for many years and accused the grand old party for giving away the island to Sri Lanka.

“I want to ask if anybody lives on that island,” Singh said while talking to reporters. On being asked about the issue of the Indian fishermen who got arrested going there, the Congress leader said, “Modiji speaks nonsense, without any head or tail.”

‘Congress Leaders Carry No Guilt…’: BJP Hits Back

Soon after Digvijiya Singh sidelined the Katchatheevu issue, the BJP launched a strong criticism of the Congress party and claimed that its leaders’ comments regarding the Indian territory that was given to Sri Lanka reflects the party’s mindset. The saffron party further demanded Congress to apologise unconditionally to Tamil Fishermen for such insensitive statements.

Slamming Digvijiya Singh over his comment on Katchatheevu, BJP Tamil Nadu chief K Annamalai took to X and wrote, “Congress leaders carry no guilt for having compromised our territorial integrity & for putting the lives of our Tamil fishermen at risk.”

“‘Not a Blade of grass grows there’ for Aksai Chin & ‘who lives there’ for Katchatheevu reflects Congress’ mindset,” he said in the post, adding that Congress has to apologise unconditionally for such insensitive statements and for the remarks made on PM Modi.

Actor and BJP’s Lok Sabha candidate from Himachal Pradesh’s Mandi Kangana Ranaut also replied to Digvijaya Singh’s question and said because of this mindset, development could not take place in the remote areas of the country under the Congress rule. “Nehruji’s thinking of calling Aksai Chin a barren land is still alive in the Congress,” Kangana Ranaut posted on X.

BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla also hit back and said every Congress leader thinks of country land as their personal property. “Legal and historical opinion were against giving away the island to Sri Lanka. The island was significant to the fishermen of our country. Now the Congress is justifying this because they have tukde-tukde mentality,” Shehzad said.