After protests in Belagavi by pro-Maharashtra outfit Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti (MES) led to the detention of several leaders of the State, the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) again locked horns with the Eknath Shinde-Devendra Fadnavis government for failing to take a firm stance on the border issue with Karnataka.
Leading the charge on the first day of the winter session of the State Legislature in Nagpur on Monday, Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Assembly Ajit Pawar questioned Maharashtra Chief Minister Shinde on how Lok Sabha member Dhairyasheel Mane could be ‘banned’ from entering Belagavi by the district’s authorities in Karnataka. The Chief Ministers of Maharashtra and Karnataka recently met Union Home Minister Amit Shah who sought to bring a “truce” between the two States.
“After the meeting with Amit Shah, how can district officers [of Belagavi] impose such a ban on elected representatives... This kind of dictatorship [on Karnataka’s part] is not right and the Maharashtra CM and Deputy CM [Devendra Fadnavis] must take a firmer stance on the issue,” Mr. Pawar said in the Assembly.
In response, Mr. Shinde said that the issue at stake was one of “Maharashtra’s pride” and that his government had indeed taken a strong stance on the issue. The Chief Minister urged the Opposition not to play politics over the matter.
“The Home Minister himself has mediated in the Maharashtra-Karnataka border issue. There should not be any politics on this issue now. There are several other issues over which we can play politics. Let us instead stand behind our Marathi-speaking brothers and sisters in the border districts,” said Mr. Shinde.
Hundreds of NCP, Shiv Sena (UBT) and Congress workers were detained on the border while attempting to enter Belagavi and sent back to Maharashtra.
Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole accused the Centre of trying to “divide” Maharashtra by bringing the border dispute issue with Karnataka to the forefront.
But Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis said the State government would be speaking with Karnataka CM Basavaraj Bommai on why leaders from Maharashtra were prevented from entering Belagavi.
“The Karnataka government today did not give permission to a democratically-organised rally that was to be staged by the Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti. Some of our leaders too have been stopped from going there. We will be discussing this with the Karnataka CM. We are very serious about the border issue and our government is fully behind the Marathi-speaking populace in border districts,” Mr. Fadnavis said.
Refusing to react to Mr. Bommai’s controversial tweets, Mr. Fadnavis said that the Karnataka CM had already clarified before Home Minister Shah that the provocative tweets — concerning merging villages and townships of Maharashtra into Karnataka — were not from his Twitter handle.
“We should not play politics over this. Yesterday [on Sunday], CM Shinde has sanctioned more than ₹2,000 crore for the development of 48 villages Jat tehsil of Sangli that were facing acute water scarcity,” Mr. Fadnavis said.
