BELAGAVI: The Karnataka Assembly on Thursday passed a unanimous resolution to condemn the statements of Maharashtra leaders over the border issue, and maintained there is no change in Karnataka’s stand with regard to the Mahajan Commission report.
CM Basavaraj Bommai, who read out the resolution in the Assembly, said, “It has been 66 years now since the Mahajan Commission report was tabled.
The Maharashtra-Karnataka border issue is a closed chapter.” He pointed out that Maharashtra rejected the report and moved the Supreme Court in 2004. “As per Article 3 of the Constitution, only the Parliament has the power to review this issue,” he said, and informed the Assembly that Karnataka will protect its land, water and language even if it needs to take the legal route.
“We have constituted Karnataka Border and River Protection Committee, which is headed by retired Supreme Court judge, Justice Shivaraj Patil, and Supreme Court senior counsel Mukul Rohatgi and former advocate general Udaya Holla are members of it.”
Condemning the statement of Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) leader Sanjay Raut, who on Wednesday said that they will enter Karnataka using China-like stealth, Bommai called him a traitor.
“Raut does not understand the federal structure. He talks about invading Karnataka. He is an agent of China, a traitor,” he said. On Maharastra minister Jayanth Patil’s statement that he will not release water to Karnataka and will raise the height of the Koyna dam, he said that is not possible.
Can’t stoop to Maharashtra ministers’ level, says CM
“Nobody can control nature. River Krishna flows through Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Maharastra and Karnataka, but the length of the river is long in Karnataka compared to other states and it is in Karnataka that it accumulates more water. He talks about increasing the height of Koyna, but let him understand that whenever there is heavy rainfall, the water is released from the dam immediately. Otherwise there will be tremors in the vicinity,” he said.
Mocking threats issued by Maharashtra leaders, Bommai said, “We cannot stoop to their level. We are cultured people. We will answer them in our way. We have bigger political will than them.”
Earlier, Leader of the Opposition Siddaramaiah said that leaders of Maharashtra are behaving like goondas. “They speak like goondas and uncivilised people,” he said.
Senior BJP leader B S Yediyurappa described the attitude of Maharashtra leaders as an attempt to take political mileage out of the issue and urged the chief minister to not let them succeed in their attempt. Speaker Vishveshwar Hegde Kageri thanked the assembly for the unity they displayed.