Maharashtra MP Dhairyasheel Mane was on Tuesday appointed as the head of the expert committee on the Maharashtra-Karnataka border dispute, a day before the matter is to be heard in the Supreme Court.
Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Tuesday congratulated Mane, the first-time Member of Parliament (MP) from Hatkanangale in southern Maharashtra’s Kolhapur district, for the appointment by presenting her with a bouquet of flowers at the Sahyadri Guest House.
The Supreme Court is all set to hear on Wednesday, November 30, a petition filed by the Maharashtra government on the ongoing border dispute with Karnataka.
Besides Mane, the expert committee members from Maharashtra include advocates Ram Apte, Dinesh Aulkar and Dr RV Patil as special coordinators. The principal secretary of the state law and justice department has also been included as coordinator while the secretary of the department dealing with border disputes is the member secretary.
Recently, the controversy was rekindled after Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai indirectly said that some areas in Maharashtra wanted to merge with his state due to water scarcity issues. However, it is related to Maharashtra’s claim on Belagavi and other border areas, with a sizeable Marathi-speaking population currently part of the southern state.
Meanwhile, Karnataka CM Bommai was in Delhi on Tuesday to meet BJP chief JP Nadda and consult senior lawyers, including former Attorney General of India Mukul Rohatgi, who will be appearing for his state.
Bommai chaired a meeting with senior advocates and officials here on Sunday in view of the matter coming up before the Supreme Court for hearing on November 30. He also said that Maharashtra’s petition has no legal basis.
“There was no legal provision in the petition filed by the State of Maharashtra with regard to the boundary issue as it was filed on the basis of the States Reorganization Act and Article 3 (Formation of New States and Alteration of Areas, Boundaries or Names of Existing States) of the Constitution,” he said.
Earlier, countering Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai’s claim of merging a Maharashtra village with his state, Fadnavis said no village has done so, and there is no question of any border village “going anywhere”. Not only.
Bommai had claimed that some gram panchayats in Jat taluka of Maharashtra’s Sangli district had passed a resolution in the past, demanding merger with Karnataka as they were facing severe water crisis.
Bommai said the Karnataka government has made plans to help them by providing water and his government is seriously considering the proposal of Jat villages.
Responding to these comments, Fadnavis said that currently, no village has raised such a demand and “not a single village” in Maharashtra will go anywhere.
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