Maharashtra Ministers’ visit to Belagavi next week not good: K'taka CM Bommai

Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said it was not good for the two Maharashtra Ministers to visit Belagavi.

The two Ministers — Chandrakant Patil and Shambhuraj Desai — have been appointed to tackle the border issue with their legal team and have planned a visit to Belagavi, which is at the centre of a controversy.

It is reported that the two are likely to meet leaders of the Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti (MES), which has been spearheading the movement to merge Belagavi with Maharashtra.

Their visit is taking place when the Maharashtra government’s petition regarding Belagavi was heard recently in the Supreme Court.

“Already our Chief Secretary has written to the Chief Secretary of Maharashtra through fax. In the given situation it is not good for them to visit here and hence, they should not come here. We have already communicated to them. The Karnataka government will continue to take steps which were taken in the past,” Bommai told reporters in Belagavi.

To a question, Bommai said the drinking water project in Jat Taluk in Maharashtra should take place.

“The Kannada-speaking people in Jat Taluk of Maharashtra have been suffering for drinking water. In such a situation, the Maharashtra government has said that it has planned drinking water project. Let that project happen and people in that region get water,” Bommai said.

The Chief Minister had said in the past that the Panchayats of Jat Taluk had passed a resolution requesting merger of their Taluk with Karnataka in the wake of severe water crisis. As Maharashtra raked up the Belagavi issue, Bommai said it would revisit the resolution passed by Jat Taluk Panchayats.