Though an all-party delegation led by chief minister Ashok Chavan called on prime minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday regarding the dispute, political bickering has come to the fore.
It would seem that political parties in the state are united on the question of the 865 disputed villages along the Maharashtra-Karnataka border. But though an all-party delegation led by chief minister Ashok Chavan called on prime minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday regarding the dispute, political bickering has come to the fore.
Under intense grilling from media persons, Chavan admitted that his demand for declaring the villages as union territory till the Supreme Court decides the matter was not included in the joint memorandum due to opposition from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). “Whatever I have said about the union territory aspect of the issue is a matter of record in the legislature. But the unanimous resolution of the legislature was drafted by the speaker, and all of us stand by this text,” he said.
This mellows the state’s stand on the issue at a time it was being perceived that at last the Maharashtra government had shed its passivity.
But this is not the only discordant note that has been struck on the issue even as all political parties wish to demonstrate that they are speaking in one voice on an issue that concerns Marathi manoos across the border in Karnataka. “We have no intention of meeting BJP president Nitin Gadkari on this issue. We met the PM because he is the head of the (Union government),” said Chavan when asked if he would like to use Gadkari’s good offices to persuade Karnataka chief minister BS Yeddyurappa.
Maharashtra BJP leaders have demanded that the all-party delegation should call on Gadkari if they want an amicable settlement of the dispute.
The delegation had to be satisfied with the PM’s assurance that he would forward their memorandum to Union home minister P Chidambaram for action. The memorandum demands that the Karnataka government should maintain status quo in the villages till the case is resolved, and it should stop atrocities against Marathi-speaking people residing in Karnataka.
The effort was described as a “ritual” by veteran Peasants and
Workers Party leader ND Patil. “Unless we take some step like resigning in protest from the assembly, these kinds of meetings are not going to take us anywhere,” he told reporters.
Five Union ministers — Vilasrao Deshmukh, Sushil Kumar Shinde, Prithviraj Chavan, Gurudas Kamat and Prateek Patil — were a part of the delegation, which also included deputy chief minister Chaggan Bhujbal besides representatives from other parties.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}