Congress leader P Chidambaram accuses BJP of destroying regional parties

"Parties like DMK in Tamil Nadu and TMC in West Bengal are the strongest parties but regional parties. In Punjab, in one period, Akali Dhal was the strongest but regional party. BJD in Odisha is a regional party. They (the BJP) feel they can throw regional parties one by one if the National Party Congress is destroyed. They will do this," said Congress MP P Chidambaram.

Former Finance Minister and Congress leader P Chidambaram accused the BJP of weakening regional parties, claiming the Bharatiya Janata Party can throw out regional parties one by one if the national party Congress is destroyed. "Parties like DMK in Tamil Nadu and TMC in West Bengal are the strongest parties but regional parties. In Punjab, in one period, Akali Dal was the strongest but regional party. BJD in Odisha is a regional party. They (the BJP) feel they can throw regional parties one by one if the National Party Congress is destroyed. They will do this," said Congress MP P Chidambaram.

"As a precursor, they have arrested the Jharkhand CM and the Delhi CM. I have read the law. But recent incidents are making me forget the law. I have never seen it in cinema, Drama or read in a novel that a state CM can be arrested by the central government," Congress MP P Chidambaram added. Earlier, Chidambram claimed that the sufferings of over six lakh Tamils who were in Sri Lanka compelled the then Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi to acknowledge that the island belonged to the neighbouring country.

"It's an absurd allegation. This agreement was arrived at in 1974 and 1976. PM Modi is referring to a recent RTI reply, he should refer to the RTI reply of January 27, 2015, when I believe EAM S Jaishankar was foreign secretary. That reply clearly says that after negotiations on the island lay on the Sri Lankan side of the international border. Why did Indira Gandhi acknowledge that it belonged to Sri Lanka? Because six lakh Tamils were suffering in Sri Lanka, they had to come to India as refugees. As a result of this settlement, six lakh Tamils came to India and they are enjoying freedom with all the Human rights here," Chidambaram said earlier in the month. The media report is based on an RTI reply received by Tamil Nadu BJP chief K Annamalai to his queries on the 1974 agreement between India and Lanka when Indira Gandhi was the prime minister.

Earlier S Jaishankar alleged that India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru did not give importance to the island territory. "This is an observation by the then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru in May of 1961. He says, he writes, I attach no importance at all to this little island and I would have no hesitation in giving up our claim to it. I do not like matters like this pending. Indefinitely and being raised again and again in parliament. So to Pandit Nehru, this was a little island. It had no importance. He saw it as a nuisance," Jaishankar said at a press conference on Monday.

The island, located between Rameswaram in India and Sri Lanka, is traditionally used by both Sri Lankan and Indian fishermen. In 1974, the then central government accepted Katchatheevu as Sri Lankan territory under the "Indo-Sri Lankan Maritime Agreement." (ANI)

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