Amid the ongoing border row between the neighbouring states of Karnataka and Maharashtra, the Karnataka Assembly on Thursday unanimously passed a resolution on the boundary issue, resolving not to cede an inch of its land to the state of Maharashtra, reported The Indian Express.
The resolution was moved by Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai and was adopted by a voice vote.
Addressing the House in the ongoing winter session in Karnataka’s second capital and ‘disputed’ district Belagavi, Bommai countered Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) leader Sanjay Raut’s jibe that Maharashtra will enter Karnataka “without permission” like “China has entered”, calling Raut a “chinese agent”.
Raut, on December 21, amid the simmering tensions between the two states, told reporters, “Like China has entered, we will enter (Karnataka). We don’t need anyone’s permission. We want to solve it through discussion but Karnataka CM is igniting fire. There is a weak govt in Maharashtra and is not taking any stand on it.”
Reacting to that, Bommai said, “The way Sanjay Raut spoke, I doubt whether he is in favour of China. He is anti-national. What else should I call him? If you come like the Chinese, we will do what Indian soldiers did.”
Further, former Karnataka CM and Congress Legislature Party leader Siddaramaiah, who also was in favour of the resolution, also condemned the Shiv Sena leader’s comments.
“Let us not stoop to such a low level (as that) of Maharashtra. We will respond to them in a civilised manner. We are Indians. China is an enemy country. Does he (Raut) not have any manners and respect for the federal structure? They (Maharashtra) need to learn from the United States (on respecting federalism),” Siddaramaiah said, as quoted by IE.
In the House, Bommai alleged that the Belagavi issue is “settled” and the issue is stoked now for “political benefits”. He said that people living on both sides of the inter-state boundary share a “good bond, harmony and business”. The BJP leader further said that his ministers had “got invitations from towns of Maharashtra seeking to be part of Karnataka”.
Bommai said, “We share borders with Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra. It is only Maharashtra which raises unnecessary controversies over border disputes for political gains. Even our ministers have got invitations from towns of Maharashtra seeking to be part of Karnataka; people from Akkalkot and Solapur have approached us. They are fed up with Maharashtra’s administration. But we have never gone to create a rift. Instead of looking at the Karnataka region, let the Maharashtra government focus on developing those regions.”
The border row between the two states comes months ahead of the Karnataka elections which is due in 2023.
Earlier, on December 14, Chief Ministers of Karnataka and his Maharashtra counterpart Eknath Shinde had met union home minister Amit Shah who had asked the CMs of both states to set up a six-member joint ministerial panel to deal with the decades-old border dispute and not make any territorial claims till the Supreme Court pronounces its verdict on the border row.