BENGALURU: Karnataka on Friday warned the neighbouring Maharashtra government against raking up the border dispute.
“We are part of the federal system in the country. If you (Maharashtra) try to take up any activities inside our borders without our permission it will be against the law and tantamount to showing disrespect to the Constitution. Karnataka will not tolerate any such acts,” Karnataka Law Minister HK Patil said in the State Legislative Council on Friday.
Patil said they have always made it clear that they will not get into petty politics over the border issue, but those in power in Maharashtra have done so whenever there were elections.
The minister said Maharashtra had gone to the Supreme Court and got admonished. “Our stand is clear. Maintain the status quo or the Mahajan report is final. If they go to the Supreme Court, we will not sit idle. They should stop such unnecessary politics, but if they continue to do so, we will give a befitting answer and you will not be able to take it,” he said.
They should look at how Marathi-speaking people are treated in Karnataka, the minister said and added that they get power in the (Belagavi) corporation. Maharashtra should conduct itself like Karnataka and create a peaceful atmosphere in the region, he said.
Patil was responding to concern expressed by Congress MLC BK Hariprasad who appealed to the state government to take note of a recent meeting in Mumbai in which an MES delegation from Belagavi discussed demands of Marathi-speaking people residing in border areas in Karnataka and decided to extend support people in 865 border villages. Maharashtra government decided to implement a health scheme and also appoint officials of Tahasildar rank to help them, Hariprasad said.
MLAs not mandatory in bagair hukum panels
Bengaluru: From now on, it is not mandatory for MLAs to be part of bagair hukum committees as the Legislative Assembly passed the Karnataka Land Revenue (amendment) Bill. This will allow MLAs to recommend anyone to be part of the committee or the state government to nominate officials. The Bill stated that if an MLA indicates in writing that he/she is unable or unwilling to be a member of the committee, or if the position of the MLA for that constituency is vacant, the state government can nominate any person as a member to the committee.