In an eleventh hour bid to connect with the fishermen population in Tamil Nadu, which is angry over the UPA government’s failure to prevent Sri Lanka from displaying a ‘Big Brother’ attitude in the Gulf of Mannar, Congress scion Rahul Gandhi on Monday promised to set up an exclusive Ministry of Fisheries if his party was returned to power. However, he remained diplomatic avoiding attacking Sri Lanka.

The Congress vice-president, who belatedly decided to woo voters in Tamil Nadu on the penultimate day of campaigning for the Lok Sabha election in the Dravidian State, sought to put up a brave face saying the polit-ical isolation of the national pa-rty here was of no consequence. Rather, he was happy that the party was fighting the election on the Congress banner as “there is no need for any compromise (with allies).”

Notwithstanding the fact that party veterans like Union Ministers P Chidambaram and G K Vasan and frontline TNCC leaders including former president K V Thangkabalu, shied away from entering the fray, Rahul claimed that the cadres were all charged up to face not just the current election but also the next Assembly polls in 2016.

Addressing an election meeting in the coastal Ramanathapuram Parliamentary constituency, where the Congress has fielded former Union Minister of State Su Thirunavukkarasar, Rahul said his party was aware of the attacks on Tamil fishermen by the Sri Lankan Navy. Stating that some fishermen had suggested to him in Mumbai to set up a separate Ministry for Fisheries, he said, “The government has separate Ministries for Agriculture and Forests. Likewise, the Congress government will take into the plight of fishermen and create a separate ministry for them.”

He promised to resolve the issues concerning the fishermen at the earliest and pointed out that their welfare was part of the Congress manifesto.

Rahul also devoted time harping on his pet issues such as the success of the Mahatma National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme in tackling poverty and the enactment of the Right to Information Act, a legislation that empowered the citizen to question the rulers. He accused the opposition for seeking to stall the Lok Pal Bill in Parliament.

“The Lok Pal is a tremendous weapon against corruption. It is very hard to find a reason why the Opposition was hesitant to see the Bill through,” he said.

Rahul  also lauded TN for its growth model and attributed this to early initiates such as the noon meal scheme which was pioneered by Congress Chief Minister the late K Kamaraj.

Meanwhile, stepping up his attack on BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, Rahul Gandhi on Monday said the country does not need a government that would make Hindus fight Muslims.