BELAGAVI: Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said that the relations between Karnataka and Maharashtra will remain the same as they have confidence in the Indian Constitution.
“The statement been made by one of the Opposition members is regrettable. They should understand that we are living in a federal system”, Bommai said, reacting to Maharashtra Minister Shambhuraj Desai’s statement saying that Maharashtra can stop water supply to Karnataka if its leaders did not stop making “irresponsible statements”.
“Maharashtra will have to rethink about water supply from its dams to the neighboring state if Karnataka CM Basavaraj Bommai and others do not stop making irresponsible statements,” Shambhuraj Desai said while talking to media persons in Vidhan Bhavan complex.
Reacting to this, Bommai said, “Water does not belong to one state. It does not help in any context if they continue to speak this way. The relationship between the two states will remain same. We are confident about the verdict of the Supreme Court as it’s been cleared in 1956 by the Mahajan Commission, report. We are confident about the right that the Constitution has given us”.
Bommai also slammed Shiv Sena (Uddhav Thackeray) leader Sanjay Raut by stating that he is known for his “provocative statements”. “What importance does his statement holds? He is known for making such provocative statements. We are Indians and Kannadigas can act like Indian soldiers to repulse the Chinese if Sanjay Raut speaks the language of China”, Bommai said.
Raut had sparked a controversy by saying, “We will enter Karnataka like China has entered the country”. “Like China has entered, we will enter (Karnataka). We don’t need anyone’s permission. We want to solve it through a discussion but the Karnataka CM is igniting a fire. There is a weak government in Maharashtra and is not taking any stand on it,” Sanjay Raut said .
Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai hit back later that day claiming that Maharashtra’s Opposition leaders had ‘lost their mental balance’.
Tensions are already prevailing in the border areas of Belagavi on the Maharashtra-Karnataka border after members of the Maharastra Ekikaran Samiti (MES) and Nationalist Congress Party staged a protest on Monday demanding that they be allowed into Belagavi. (ANI)