Bangalore: Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy has hit out at the Maharashtra Government and in particular Deputy Chief Minister R.R. Patil for making "irresponsible" statements on the border dispute between the two States.

He told presspersons here on Wednesday that such statements could disturb the unity and integrity of the country. The Deputy Chief Minister who had sworn by the Constitution while taking charge of office should know that "we are in a federal set-up and it is improper to aggravate a dispute which has been settled long ago."

It was also imperative for the Union Government to initiate action against the Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister for repeatedly making statements which could trigger a serious law and order problem.

The Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister in a letter to Chief Minister of Kerala V.S. Achuthanandan has called for an understanding between those two States to unitedly put up a fight against Karnataka with which both States have a border problem.

Mr. Kumaraswamy said he too could make such statements but "it will not help in resolving the issues between States. It is a foolish statement. A Deputy Chief Minister of a State should understand that he should make statements which were within the ambit of law."

The Chief Minister, who chaired several meetings at the secretariat, said the Government was working towards providing uninterrupted power supply to domestic consumers in the rural areas. Of the subsidy component due to the Karnataka Power Transmission Corporation Limited, the Government had so far released Rs. 1,800 crore to KPTCL and another Rs. 750 crore would be released shortly.

The release of subsidy would enable the electricity supply companies to improve the power availability in the rural areas.

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