Nagpur: Former chief minister Uddhav Thackeray on Monday slammed the Chief Minister Eknath Shinde for not taking aggressive stand against Karnataka CM Basavraj Bommai on the border issue and demanded that the state legislature should unanimously pass a resolution demanding that the Karnataka-occupied Marathi speaking border areas should be declared as Union Territory. The resolution should be passed to the Union government.
Thackeray was speaking at the session when debate was moved by the Leader of Opposition Ambadas Danve under rule 97 on the border dispute.
He asked, "Is Shinde Fadnavis government scared? Why are the government and CM not aggressively fielding Maharashtra’s stand on the border issue especially when the Karnataka assembly has passed a resolution that it will not give an inch to Maharashtra."
Thackeray attended the proceedings during the ongoing winter session in the state council for the first time since MVA was toppled.
Thackeray says resolution of border row conducive presently
He further said, ‘’The situation to resolve the border dispute is conducive presently unlike in the past. There is a party [BJP] which is at the Centre and also in Karnataka and Maharashtra. CM (Shinde) considers the PM and Home Minister as his leader. Our Chief Minister went to Delhi today, he should not have gone to Delhi when the border issue was taken up for discussion. Is he going to talk about the border issue during his Delhi visit," he asked.
Thakceray said that Home Minister Amit Shah in the meeting with Shinde and Bommai announced no one will make controversial statements as the matter is pending in Supreme Court. ‘’Despite that, who made the situation worse," he further asked.
‘’Despite the matter being in the apex court, the Karnataka government granted the second capital to Belgaum and renamed it as Belagavi. The Marathi speaking people from border areas are being oppressed and they face injustice,’’ claimed Thackeray.
‘’The border dispute is not merely a matter between Marathi and Kannada languages and also for borders but it is also a matter of humanity,’’ he said.
‘’Don't just talk. If the resolution is to be presented, then the border area should be taken as the Union Territory and it should be sent to the Centre,’’ said Thackeray and hoped that the Centre will discharge the role of guardian.
