Maharashtra, Karnataka to form joint ministerial team to address border issue: Shah

Mumbai: The Nationalist Congress Party on Wednesday said it was a “positive sign” that Union Home Minister Amit Shah asked the CMs of Maharashtra and Karnataka not to make any claims regarding the border dispute till the Supreme Court gives its verdict, but wondered if the latter will follow this directive.

Stepping in to defuse the tensions between Maharashtra and Karnataka, Shah on Wednesday asked chief ministers of the two states to set up a six-member joint ministerial panel to address related issues and not make any claims till the Supreme Court pronounces its verdict on the dispute.

Shah also told Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and his Karnataka counterpart Basavaraj Bommai that the issue cannot be settled on the streets but only through constitutional means.

“It is a positive sign that the Hon’ble Union Home Minister Amit Shah told chief ministers of Maharashtra and Karnataka that neither of the states will make any claim or demand till the Supreme Court gives a verdict on the issue,” NCP spokesperson Clyde Crasto said in a statement.

But it remained to be seen if Karnataka CM Bommai follows the instructions given by the Union home minister Shah, or if he defies them by continuing to make unwarranted statements as before, Crasto added.

”As far as Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde is concerned, he is anyway silent on this issue which is very important to the people of Maharashtra,” the NCP spokesperson added.

Shah had summoned the chief ministers of the two states after border tensions flared up last week leading to violence in Belagavi and adjoining regions of Karnataka which have a sizeable Marathi-speaking population.