BENGALURU: Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai will leave for New Delhi on Wednesday to meet Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who has convened a meeting on the border dispute with Bommai and his Maharashtra counterpart Eknath Shinde, said sources in the Chief Minister’s Office. This is the first time that the Centre is intervening in the Karnataka-Maharashtra border row. Bommai will leave for Delhi via Hubballi on Wednesday, and his meeting with Shah is scheduled for the evening.
Last week, Bommai had said Karnataka MPs will meet Shah on Monday. But Shah was in Gujarat to attend the swearing-in of Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel.
A BJP MP, on condition of anonymity, told TNIE that they had not got any message and if allowed, he will be there to meet Shah. “This is about our state, and we will stand up for our demands,” he added.Maharashtra is laying claim to Belagavi city and hundreds of villages from various districts, while many villages in Maharashtra want to be merged with Karnataka. The matter, however, is before the Supreme Court.
Maharashtra MPs met Shah recently and demanded action against Bommai and others. “Union Minister Pralhad Joshi and others also tried to get an appointment to meet Shah along with other Karnataka MPs. As Shah was busy in Gujarat, they could not meet him,” said sources.