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Maharashtra leaders meet PM Modi, Shah over border dispute, governor’s remarks
Political leaders in Maharashtra on Friday met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah to seek their intervention in two controversial issues brewing in the state.
Political leaders in Maharashtra on Friday met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah to seek their intervention in two controversial issues brewing in the state – tension over the border dispute with Karnataka and row triggered by governor B S Koshyari’s remark against Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.
While a delegation of the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) met Shah over the border dispute, BJP MP Udayanaraje Bhosale met Modi to seek action against Koshyari for his remarks.
Since its creation on May 1, 1960, Maharashtra has claimed that 865 villages, including Belgaum (now Belgavi), Karwar and Nippani, should be merged into Maharashtra. Karnataka, however, has refused to part with its territory.
The Karnataka-Maharashtra border row escalated after Karnataka chief minister Basavaraj Bommai recently said his government was “seriously considering” including 40 Kannada-speaking villages from the Jat tehsil in Maharashtra’s Sangli district in Karnataka.
On Tuesday, violence erupted after vehicles from both states were attacked and damaged in Belgaum and Pune.
NCP MP Supriya Sule on Friday led the delegation of NCP, Congress and Shiv Sena MPs to meet Shah. “We discussed all the issues, including the provocative statements made by Bommai and the atrocities inflicted on people in the border areas of Maharashtra,” she said.
“We also told him about the derogatory remarks against Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj... He gave us a patient hearing and we are hopeful of an amicable solution on the border issue,” she added
NCP leader Amol Kolhe told reporters Shah is expected to meet the chief ministers of the two states on December 14 to resolve the border issue.
BJP MP Bhosale met Modi over Koshyari’s remarks against Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. He said he had earlier written a letter to the President, requesting him to recall the governor.
“The letter was sent to the central government by Rashtrapati Bhavan, and action should have been taken against Koshyari by now,” he said. “The delay is unfortunate but I think there is probably a certain procedure to follow on account of which it may be taking time,” he added.
Koshyari last month triggered a row after he said that Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj was a “hero of the past era” and referred to Babasaheb Ambedkar and Union minister Nitin Gadkari as “present heroes”.
