MUMBAI/BELAGAVI/HUBBALI: As the border dispute between Maharashtra and Karnataka worsened, the Eknath Shinde authorities went on the backfoot on Monday, with the go to of ministers Chandrakant Patil and Shambhuraje Desai to Belagavi district on Tuesday unlikely to go forward. The Karnataka authorities remained combative, with the Belagavi district administration clamping prohibitory orders to forestall the ministers from coming into Belagavi metropolis.
Karnataka CM Basavaraj Bommai warned, “If they (ministers) try to enter the state, officers have been asked to initiate suitable legal action.” Last week, Bommai had requested for the go to to be scrapped to be able to preserve interstate concord.
Meanwhile, 10 gram panchayats of Akkalkot tehsil in Solapur district handed resolutions to affix Karnataka, and 55 villages in Nashik’s tribal-dominated Surgana taluka, which borders Gujarat, additionally declared on Monday their inclination to merge with the neighbouring state.
Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis gave clear indication on Monday that there was a rethink on the Belagavi go to. Fadnavis mentioned the timing of the go to on Mahaparinirvan Din, the demise anniversary of Babasaheb Ambedkar, might not be applicable. “The visit of the ministers was on Mahaparinirvan Din for a programme. If the ministers decide, no one can stop them from going there. But should such a dispute be created on Mahaparinirvan Din?” he requested.