MANGALURU: Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister Laxman Savadi on Saturday condemned Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray's statement that Belagavi, Karwar and Nippani should belong to Maharashtra stating that it was intended as a diversionary tactic.
Talking to reporters in Mangaluru, he alleged that there is bickering in the ruling alliance in Maharashtra and hence in order to divert people's attention, Thackeray is stating that Belagavi, Karwar and Nippani should belong to Maharashtra.
“I would like to categorically tell the Maharashtra Chief Minister that Belagavi is an integral part of Karnataka. Already we have declared it as the second capital and we are holding legislature sessions there every year. Despite being aware of all this, he is making such statements just to save his CM's chair.”
He reiterated that if Maharashtra stakes claim on Belagavi just because it has a huge number of Marathi speaking people, then Mumbai should belong to Karnataka as a huge number of Kannadigas who hail from North and coastal Karnataka live there.