BJP and Balasahebanchi Shiv Sena on Monday cut a sorry figure after the visit by two coordinating ministers Chandrakant Patil and Shambhuraj Desai to Belgaum slated for December 6 was cancelled after the Karnataka Chief Minister Basavraj Bommai took an aggressive posture and indicated a tough action to maintain law and order situation.
Both BJP and Shinde camp said that the ministers' visit has been postponed. They were earlier supposed to visit on December 3 but later rescheduled to December 6 after Bommai laid claims over 40 villages in Jat tehsil in Sangli district and also on Solapur and Akkalkot.
They were to hold talks with the activists of Madhyavarti Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti and hold talks with them on the decades-old border dispute with Karnataka.
However, the opposition slammed the cancellation of the coordinating ministers' visit saying that they should have gone there and the state government should have taken the Karnataka government head on the border issue.
The Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said Chief Minister Eknath Shinde will take the final call on whether the ministers appointed for coordinating the state's border dispute with Karnataka should visit the contested areas. ‘’Our opinion is to avoid any legal complications by arranging such a visit to the disputed areas.,’’ he noted.
"Nobody should be prohibited from visiting a place, as we are an independent country. However, the case related to the disputed area is still going on in the Supreme Court and we want to avoid any further complications in the issue. Nobody can stop the ministers from visiting the disputed areas if they decide to do so," the deputy chief minister said.
On the other hand, Desai said he and Patil will take a decision on their Belgaum visit after holding talks with the Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and DCM Fadnavis.
Criticism from the opposition
However, the Shiv Sena UBT MP Sanjay Raut slammed the Shinde Fadnavis government saying that ‘’Kabaddi is a game in Maharashtra and it has a boundary. These two ministers should at least touch the Maharashtra-Karnataka border. Play whatever Kabaddi you want to play in Maharashtra. But, at least go to the border there.’’
‘’These people have no courage. They are desperate, helpless people who cannot do anything. Just talking and insulting us. They are ministers and have security cover. They should have gone to Belgaum,’’ said Mr Raut.
The NCP national spokesperson Clyde Crasto asked,’’Why this U turn? Was the government not aware of MahaNirvan Day? Were they not aware of the prevailing disturbance in peace before they announced the visit?;; He further said ‘’Truth is, the Maharashtra Government is wilting under the pressure put by Bommai and allowing him to get things his way.’’
‘’It is a shame that Bommai who is from BJP is allowed to do what he is doing in another BJP allied state and the Centre and BJP are behaving as mute spectators,’’ he alleged.
