Border dispute: Khader flays Centre, K’taka govt

Mangaluru: Deputy Leader of Opposition in the Karnataka assembly U T Khader on Friday slammed the BJP governments at the Centre and in the state for failure to resolve the border dispute between Karnataka and Maharashtra in Belagavi.

Addressing reporters here, Khader demanded immediate intervention of the Centre to resolve the issue.

Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai is not taking bold decisions on the issue as a result of which Kannadigas on the border are suffering, he said.

Alleging that the chief minister is betraying the people of the state without adopting a tough stance on the issue, the Congress leader said the government should explain why they are not able to come out with a solution to the problem.

Khader said the claim regarding the strength of the ‘double engine government’ has now been exposed and wondered why the Union government is keeping a studied silence on the border issue between two states.

The border row flared up with the decision of two Maharashtra ministers to coordinate with their legal team to deal with the issue, to visit Belagavi on December 6. The visit was later postponed. Since then, Belagavi and parts of the city bordering Maharashtra have seen protests on both sides.