Union minister Amit Shah asks Maha and K'taka CMs to form joint ministerial team to address border issue

Stepping in to defuse the border tensions between Maharashtra and Karnataka, Union Home Minister Amit Shah asked chief ministers of the two states to set up a six-member joint ministerial panel to address related issues and not make any claims till the Supreme Court pronounces its verdict on the dispute.

According to a report of PTI, Shah also told Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and his Karnataka counterpart Basavaraj Bommai that the border issue between the two states cannot be settled on the streets but only through constitutional means.

Shah had summoned the chief ministers of the two states after border tensions flared up last week leading to violence in Belgavi and adjoining regions of Karnataka which have a sizeable Marathi-speaking population.

“I had called chief minister of Karnataka, and chief minister and deputy chief minister of Maharashtra to resolve border disputes between the two states through constitutional means,” Shah told reporters here.

A team will be formed comprising three ministers from both sides to hold a detailed discussion on this issue and ensure that decisions which are taken are percolated at the ground level,” Shah said briefing reporters on the decisions taken at the meeting.

The Union home minister further said a committee under the chairmanship of an IPS officer will be formed to maintain law and order situation and ensure peaceful passage of people, transport and goods from one state to another state.

Shah said it had come to notice that fake tweets in the name of top leaders also escalated the issue and instigated the sentiments of people of both the states. He said it has been decided to file an FIR in the matter related to the fake tweets. Shinde had raised the issue of certain tweets allegedly made from an account of the Karnataka chief minister.

Bommai clarified that the directives were given as there were apprehensions about a law and order situation in Belgavi as certain organizations were keen to capitalise on the tensions. The Union home minister also appealed to opposition parties in both states against politicising the issue and wait for the Supreme Court judgment in this regard.