Maha govt threatens to stop water supply to K’taka

Nagpur: Despite home minister Amit Shah’s efforts to broker peace between bickering neighbours, both Karnataka and Maharashtra on Wednesday hardened their stand on the border dispute

Nagpur: Despite home minister Amit Shah’s efforts to broker peace between bickering neighbours, both Karnataka and Maharashtra on Wednesday hardened their stand on the border dispute. Maharashtra excise minister Shambhuraj Desai on Wednesday threatened to stop supply of water from its dams to tide over Karnataka’s water shortage.

Maha govt threatens to stop water supply to K’taka

This was in response to Karnataka chief minister Basavraj Bommai’s statement that “not even an inch of land” would be given to Maharashtra. “If everyone agrees, we will pass a resolution reiterating the state’s stand in both houses of the legislature,” Bommai said. Bommai’s action led to sharp reaction in the Maharashtra legislature, with the Opposition demanding that the Shinde-Fadnavis government take a far more aggressive stance against the BJP-led Karnataka government.

Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut added fuel to the fire on Wednesday by saying, “Like China has entered, we will enter (Karnataka). We don’t need anyone’s permission.” Raut’s comment was a reference to China’s border aggression in Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh earlier this month. Karnataka Home Minister Araga Jnanendra slammed Raut for his statement and called it “unacceptable”.

Desai and Chandrakant Patil, higher and technical education minister, have been appointed by the Maharashtra government to coordinate with the legal team fighting the border dispute in the Supreme Court.

While speaking to the media outside Vidhan Bhavan in Nagpur, Desai condemned Bommai’s statement. “Such statements do not befit someone who holds a constitutional post,” he said. “Bommai’s threatening language is uncalled-for when the dispute matter is sub-judice. He should stop this as we too can retaliate in similar language. The Karnataka CM should keep in mind that the state is completely dependent on water supply from the Krishna and Koyna dams in western Maharashtra in March, April and May. If this continues, we will have to rethink the supply of water.”

Deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis announced in the state assembly that he would also write a letter to the Union home minister about the ‘fake’ tweets on the border dispute. “The Karnataka chief minister told us that the provocative statements against Maharashtra were not his but on a fake account created in his name,” he said. “He said this in the presence of Amit Shah. I will personally write a letter to Shah about this.”

Congress leader Ashok Chavan raised the issue in the state assembly on Wednesday. “Even after the Karnataka CM said the Twitter account on which the anti-Maharashtra tweets were posted was fake, the messages have still not been deleted,” he said. “The account is a verified one with a blue tick. The comments in the name of the Karnataka CM are instigatory, and the Maharashtra government has no reason to support Bommai.”

Raut added, “We want to solve the border issue through discussion but the Karnataka CM is igniting a fire,” he said. “There is a weak government in Maharashtra, which is not taking any stand on this. Over 100 people have died due to the border issue, and if the chief minister and deputy chief minister don’t take a stand, people like Bommai will keep exaggerating things.” Raut was responding to reports of the Karnataka government gearing up to pass a resolution on the border issue with Maharashtra.

The resolution—suggested by Bommai and agreed to by Leader of the Opposition Siddaramaiah—came days after Union home minister Amit Shah announced a committee with three ministers each from the two states to prevent any escalation of the fractious 56-year-old dispute. Likely to be passed on Thursday, it is expected to be sent to the Maharashtra government as well as the Centre and the Supreme Court.

The two neighbouring states have been at loggerheads for over half a century on account of a border dispute, which is currently pending in the Supreme Court. Maharashtra has long demanded that Marathi-speaking villages and towns like Belgavi from Karnataka’s border districts be included in Maharashtra, a demand that Karnataka has rejected. The dispute is now pending in the Supreme Court. The recent controversy started a fortnight ago when Bommai remarked that several villages in Solapur district of Maharashtra would be included in Karnataka.