Former Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy on Sunday slammed Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar for supporting his government in the merger of Maratha-speaking areas in Karnataka with Maharashtra.
Kumaraswamy, branding Pawar arrogant tweeted, "Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister @AjitPawarSpeaks has once again displayed arrogance. In the past, he had spoken low about Karnataka & Kannadigas. Again he has let his tongue wagging, this is reprehensible." Kumaraswamy, reminding Pawar of the Kannada-speaking areas in Maharashtra, said, "In Pune, he has made an immature statement that his government is in favour of getting the Marathi speaking areas in Karnataka into Maharashtra. If that is case, then he should not forget that a majority of Kannada speaking areas are included in Maharashtra." On the occasion of Maharashtra Day, Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar backed the campaign to make the Marathi-speaking villages at the border, including Belgaum, Nipai and Karwar, a part of the state.
"In 1947, we got Independence, in 1950 we became a Republic after which States were reorganised on linguistic basis. Even during the Amrit Mahotsav of the Independence, Ajit Pawar talking about border dispute only shows that his brain is working in retrogressive mode", Kumaraswamy added.
According to the Janata Dal (Secular) leader, Pawar created a political farce by talking about the interstate border disputes. "There is neither care nor concern for the State and the people living in the border areas. He is creating a political farce by talking about an issue which ended long back. It is good for Ajit Pawar to come out of the confrontational attitude of China", he added.
Kumaraswamy opined that interstate border disputes will lead to a threat to the Nation's unity and federal system. "By raking up the border dispute issue, he is not only misguiding the people speaking two languages but also a political ploy to keep the border areas under-developed. This trend is a threat to the Nation's unity and federal system", he said.
"In 2006, when Ajit Pawar attempted to arm twist the State by using the then Union Home Minister in UPA government, I as a Chief Minister stood against it and took a historic decision to build the Suvarna Vidhana Soudha in Belagavi", said Kumaraswamy.
According to the former Karnataka CM, Marathi leaders must stop using Belagavi for creating divisions. "Otherwise, similar sensitive issues across the national will come to the forefront threatening division of the country. The Centre must understand this and ensure that those with confrontationist attitude must be controlled", tweeted Kumaraswamy. "In every State, there are people who speak every language. There are Marathi speaking people in Karnataka. Let Ajit Pawar talk about their good. Let him talk with our State government. We believe that all those who live in Karnataka are Kannadigas. Pawar should understand this", he added in another tweet.
After hoisting a flag at Pune City Police headquarters in Shivajinagar, Pawar said, "On Maharashtra Day, we still regret that several Marathi-speaking villages at the state border, including Belgaum, Nipai and Karwar, could not be part of the state. I assure you that we'll keep supporting the fight by the people of these villages to become a part of Maharashtra.
Maharashtra Day, commonly known as Maharashtra Diwas, is celebrated to mark the bifurcation of "Bombay" state on a linguistic basis into two states: Gujarat and Maharashtra. The Bombay Reorganization Act came into effect on May 1, 1960, as a result of several protests and movements that demanded the creation of an individual state.
