Aurangabad: Ahead of the scheduled visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Nagpur for the inauguration of Samruddhi Expressway, former chief minister Uddhav Thackeray said that the PM must speak on the “high-handedness” of the Karnataka chief minister.
Karnataka CM Basavaraj Bommai, on the other hand, asserted that while Union home minister Amit Shah will hold a meeting with CMs of both the states next week, it would make no difference to the dispute, nor would it change Karnataka’s stand. “Since the case is pending in the Supreme Court, it should be reasonable for both the states to wait for the verdict,” said Bommai. Thackeray, who was speaking at a function in Jalna district, said, “The PM can criticise us as he has the right to do so. But after doing so, he must speak on the Maharashtra-Karnataka border row and the high-handedness shown by the Karnataka CM. Entire Maharashtra will be waiting to hear your (PM) stand on the dispute tomorrow,” he said, adding that the work of the remaining stretch of Samruddhi Expressway should progress fast, but answers must be given on the road “blocked” by Karnataka for Maharashtra.
“You are constructing big roads, but what about the closed roads? The Samruddhi Expressway is named after (late) Balasaheb Thackeray, who remained behind bars for agitating over the border dispute with Karnataka,” he said. Meanwhile, Maharashtra BJP president Chandrashekar Bawankule, who was addressing a press conference in Nagpur ahead of the PM’s visit, claimed that some prominent leaders of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) were vitiating the atmosphere on both sides for political gains, and that the Supreme Court should hear the Maharashtra-Karnataka border dispute case urgently and give a decision soon as the situation is getting tense. Bawankule said the Eknath Shinde-Devendra Fadnavis government has put its submissions strongly in the Supreme Court.
