A file photo of Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai
| Photo Credit: M A Sriram
Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said on Friday December 2, “We have communicated to the Maharashtra Government that the visit of its Ministers to Belagavi, at this juncture, is not appropriate.”
“The Chief Secretary of Karnataka has sent a fax message to her counterpart in Maharashtra that the visit of ministers would not be appropriate in the current situation,” Mr. Bommai informed journalists in Dodamangadi village near Ramdurg in Belagavi district of Karnataka before launching some development projects.
Members of the Maharashtra high-power committee on the Karnataka-Maharashtra border dispute — Higher and Technical Education Minister Chandrakant Dada Patil, Excise Minister Shambhuraj Desai and Dhairyashil Mane, MP — had announced that they would visit Belagavi on December 3 to meet members of Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti that has been demanding merger of Belagavi and other Marathi-speaking areas with Maharashtra.
But the visit was put off. Mr. Patil announced that they would visit on December 6, to participate in Dr. Ambedkar Maha Pari Nirvan Divas.
To a query on whether the State Government would bar the entry of these ministers, the CM said that the Karnataka Government would take those steps that were taken by the earlier State Governments during such instances in the past.
“Maharashtra Government has announced a ₹2,000 crore irrigation project for Jath taluk and surrounding areas. This will help the Kannada-speaking population in those areas. The announcement has come after we raised concerns about the well-being of Kannada-speaking persons in Maharashtra. The residents of Jath should get drinking water as soon as possible,” Mr. Bommai said.
