Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai has threatened to take retaliatory measures against Maharashtra if the state government does not withdraw its order extending benefits of its healthcare scheme to 865 villages in Karnataka.
Leader of Opposition in the Karnataka assembly Siddaramaiah joined Bommai and said: “The consequences will not be right if the order is not withdrawn immediately.”
Maharashtra GO extends health scheme to 865 villages in Karnataka
The Maharashtra government’s order, issued on Monday, said 865 villages from 12 tehsils in Belagavi, Karvar, Kalaburagi and Bidar will be included in the ‘Mahatma Jyotirao Phule Jan Arogya Yojana’.
In the name of providing insurance to the people on Karnataka’s side of the border, the Shinde government is taking declaration letters from them stating that they belong to Maharashtra, Bommai alleged in a series of tweets.
“This is condemnable. If the Maharashtra government continues its insolent behaviour, the Karnataka government will also implement a similar insurance scheme for the protection of the Kannadigas on the Maharashtra’s side of the border.”
Border row in SC, and Maharashtra is trying to confuse public in the area: Bommai
“Even though the Karnataka-Maharashtra border dispute is in the Supreme Court, the Maharashtra government is trying to create confusion in the border areas of both states. The order to insure some people on the Karnataka border is the height of insolence and is an attempt to disrupt ties between the states,” Bommai said.
The Karnataka CM said that at a meeting chaired by Home Minister Amit Shah, his Maharashtra counterpart, Eknath Shinde, and the Deputy Chief Minister, Devendra Fadnavis, had agreed not to create any confusion on the border issue.
“The Maharashtra government should immediately withdraw its order and by respecting the instructions given by Amit Shah, should work towards safeguarding the relationship between the two states,” he said.
Extension of health benefits comes a month ahead of Karnataka polls
The decision to extend health benefits comes just a month before the Karnataka assembly election and may affect the voting pattern in the villages bordering Maharashtra.
On March 16, Bommai had said that many taluk and gram panchayats in the border districts of Jath and Solapur had adopted resolutions to join Karnataka as they were not getting justice in Maharashtra. “In such a situation, Maharashtra should behave responsibly, considering the sensitivity of the issue,” Bommai said.
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