Maha-Karnataka row: Ajit Pawar seeks Shinde-Fadnavis' ‘strong reply’ to Bommai
The border dispute started after CM Bommai claimed that some villages in Maharashtra's Sangli district, which are having a water crisis, passed a resolution seeking a merger with Karnataka.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and his deputy Devendra Fadnavis must give a befitting reply to Karnataka CM Basavaraj Bommai for laying his state's claim on several areas of the state, said Nationalist Congress Party leader Ajit Pawar on Friday.
As per PTI reports, Bommai had claimed predominantly Kannada-speaking panchayats in Jat taluka in Sangli district had passed resolutions in the past to merge with Karnataka when there was a severe drought situation and acute drinking water crisis.
"Maharashtra CM and Deputy CM should give a befitting reply to Bommai. I have already condemned his statement. No one should ever think of taking even an inch of Maharashtra's land," the NCP leader told reports here.
The border dispute started after CM Bommai claimed that some villages in Maharashtra's Sangli district, which are having a water crisis, passed a resolution seeking a merger with Karnataka.
However, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis refuted the claims, saying no such village has sought a merger with Karnataka. He had also said that no village in Maharashtra would go to Karnataka.
"No village in Maharashtra will go to Karnataka! The state government will fight strongly in the Supreme Court to get Marathi-speaking villages including Belgaum-Karwar-Nipani," Fadnavis wrote on Twitter.
Responding to these remarks, CM Bommai wrote on Twitter, “Maharashtra Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis has made a provocative statement on the Karnataka Maharashtra border issue and his dream will never come true. Our government is committed to protecting the country's land, water and borders."
Maharashtra CM Shinde asserted that his government will not let even an inch of the land of Maharashtra go away to anyone.
“We are doing the work of giving justice to the Marathi people in the border areas. Not even an inch of space in Maharashtra will be allowed to go anywhere. It is our government's responsibility to solve the problems of 40 villages," Shinde told reporters, as quoted by ANI.
NCP chief Sharad Pawar also said that the Bharatiya Janata Party "can not run away from the Karnataka issue."
(With inputs from agencies)
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