Amid the ongoing border dispute between Karnataka and Maharashtra, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday said that he met chief ministers of both states, and asked them to set up a six-member joint ministerial panel to address related issues. He also asked both parties not to make any claims till the Supreme Court pronounces its verdict in the matter which is pending before it.
The union home minister further said that he told Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and his Karnataka counterpart Basavaraj Bommai that the border dispute cannot be settled in the streets, and can only be resolved by constitutional means.
“I had called Karnataka CM, and chief minister and deputy CM of Maharashtra to resolve border disputes between the two states through constitutional means,” Shah told reporters, after the meeting which was held in New Delhi.
“A team will be formed comprising three ministers from both sides to hold a detailed discussion on this issue and ensure that decisions which are taken are percolated at the ground level,” he added.
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister and BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis and Karnataka Home Minister Araga Jnanendra were also present at the meeting convened by Shah.
Further, Shah said to ensure peace and maintain law and order, a committee under the chairmanship of an IPS officer will be formed so that there is peaceful passage of people and transport of goods from one state to another.
The union home minister said that it has come to the notice that several fake Twitter accounts have cropped up in the name of top leaders, which have instigated people of both states, and said FIR will be registered against such people in connection to the fake tweets.
Shah also urged the Opposition parties in both states to not politicise the issue, and to wait for the Supreme Court judgment in this regard.
“For the sake of people of both the states, I urge the opposition parties of both Maharashtra and Karnataka not to politicise this issue. We should wait for the outcome of the discussions of the committee formed to resolve this issue and the decision of the Supreme Court. I am confident that Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Congress, and the Uddhav Thackeray group will cooperate,” he said.
Why were the two CMs called?
Shah had called CMs of Karnataka and Maharashtra after violence spilled on the road following the border dispute between the two states, where the state of Maharashtra has staked claim on 865 Marathi-speaking villages in Karnataka. Since Maharashtra was formed on May 1, 1960, it has claimed that villages in the Belgaon (now Belagavi), Karwar and Nippani, should be merged into state, which are now in the territory of Karnataka.
Meanwhile, Karnataka has staked claims to south Solapur and Akkalkote regions of Maharashtra, which have a sizeable Kannada-speaking population.
The border dispute escalated into violence last week after vehicles from both states were attacked and damaged in Belagavi and Pune.