Maharashtra Ministers Chandrakant Patil and Shambhuraj Desai who were supposed to visit Belgaum (Belagavi) in Karnataka on December 3, will now visit on December 6 on the occasion of Mahaparinirvan Diwas, the death anniversary of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar, to hold talks with the activists of Madhyavarti Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti (MMES) on the decades-old border dispute between both States.
The Eknath Shinde government has recently appointed Mr. Patil, a senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader, and Mr. Desai, a member of the Balasahebanchi Shiv Sena, to coordinate with the legal team regarding the court case on the border row between Maharashtra and Karnataka.
Both ministers who hail from western Maharashtra are also responsible for coordination with the MMES that roots for the merging of the Marathi-speaking areas in the southern State with the western.
Mr. Patil on Thursday said that Ambedkarite organisations in Belgaum have urged them to attend some programmes on Mahaparinirvan Diwas there.
“Accordingly, Mr. Desai and I will travel to Belgaum on December 6, instead of December 3,” he said.
Earlier this week, Mr. Desai said they would also look into the problems faced by residents of 865 Marathi-speaking villages in Karnataka over which the Maharashtra government had staked its claim.
“We will provide more facilities to Marathi people living in those villages and address their issues by taking constructive decisions, and simultaneously expedite the legal battle in Delhi. We are fully geared up for the legal battle, which we believe will be in our favour,” he said.
Mr. Patil said there was a demand from the Madhyavarti Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti to hold discussions on the border issue.
