The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Centre's counsel for status quo on border dispute hailed

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Aug 29, 2006

Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Centre's counsel for status quo on border dispute hailed

Staff Reporter

It is a moral and political victory for Karnataka, declares Yediyurappa

AN INVITATION: Deputy Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa (right) accompanied by Kannada Sahitya Parishat president Chandrashekar Patil formally inviting K.S. Nisar Ahmed (left) in Bangalore on Monday to preside over the next Kannada Sahitya Sammelan to be held in Shimoga in December.

BANGALORE: Deputy Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa has hailed the Union Government's reported decision to inform the Supreme Court that the status quo should be maintained in respect of the border dispute with Maharashtra as a moral and political victory for Karnataka.

It has been reported that following the Supreme Court's directive in the petition preferred by Maharashtra for the transfer of Belgaum and some areas in Karnataka to it, the Centre has submitted an affidavit asking the court to maintain the status quo.

Mr. Yediyurappa was speaking to presspersons at the residence of the Kannada poet K.S. Nisar Ahmed here on Monday. He had gone there to formally invite Prof. Ahmed to preside over the 76th Kannada Sahitya Sammelan to be held in Shimoga in the last week of December. He was accompanied by Kannada Sahitya Parishat president Chandrashekar Patil and others.

Mr. Yediyurappa, who is from Shimoga district, is also the chairman of the reception committee for the sammelan.

Mr. Yediyurappa said the stand taken by the Centre was a balanced one.

The Government welcomed the decision as it justified the State's stand on the issue, he said.

On the funds sought from the Centre for taking up flood and drought relief works, he said that it might release Rs. 500 crore by the end of the week.

MES for all-party meet

PTI reports from Mumbai

A meeting of all political parties in Maharashtra is expected to be held soon to chalk out a strategy on the border dispute with Karnataka, Karan Thakur of the Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti has said.

His statement came after Maharashtra suffered a setback recently with the Centre telling the Supreme Court that a suit filed by the Vilasrao Deshmukh government on the dispute was "not maintainable in law."

The samiti has been fighting for the merger of Marathi-speaking villages in Karnataka with the neighbouring State.

In an affidavit filed in the Supreme Court, the Union Home Ministry said the prayers of Maharashtra "are not liable to be granted."

The Centre's stance on the issue had come as a disappointment for the Marathi-speaking people of Belgaum and other border areas in Karnataka, Mr. Thakur said.

"If Bellary can be given from Andhra to Karnataka by following the language formula, why can't Belgaum be made a part of Maharashtra," he asked.

The Centre took the view in the Supreme Court that the suit filed by Maharashtra was "liable to be returned" as it does "not disclose a cause of action."

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