Pawar himself didn't do anything when he was CM: Maha govt slams NCP chief

Pune (Maharashtra) [India], December 7 (ANI): As the Karnataka-Maharashtra border dispute is escalating day by day, a political row has erupted over the issue.
Hitting out at the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar who earlier had asked the Maharashtra government to find a solution for the same within 48 hours, spokesperson of the Eknath Shinde faction Vijay Shivtare on Wednesday said that Pawar's party themselves did not do anything when they were in power.
"NCP Supremo Sharad Pawar who threatens the government to find a solution in 48 hours over the Maharashtra Karnataka border dispute themself did not do anything when they were in power," Shivtare said while talking to ANI.
"Sharad Pawar was 4-time Chief minister of Maharashtra. He held the post of defence Minister and agriculture minister. Despite having such powerful post and having both Congress governments in the centre and Karnataka did not do anything when they were in power. Now asking to find a solution in 48 hours," he said.
He further accused the opposition of doing "dirty politics" over the Karnataka-Maharashtra border row.
"Opposition is only doing politics but dirty politics over this issue. This issue can only be resolved by dialogues and this is what Chief Minister Eknath Shinde is doing right now. The case related to the issue is listed before the Supreme court too, so opposition must not do politics over it," Shivtare said.
Pawar on Tuesday said that Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde must take all the parties in confidence before taking any decision on the border dispute with Karnataka.
"Maharashtra CM Shinde must keep all the parties in confidence before taking any decision...Parliament session is about to begin, I request all MPs to come together and take a stand on the same," Sharad Pawar told reporters regarding the Maharashtra-Karnataka border issue.
Belagavi is at the centre of the territorial dispute as Maharashtra has been claiming that this Marathi-majority area was wrongly given to Kannada-majority Karnataka in the language-based reorganisation of states in the 1960s.
The villages are spread across Belagavi and the north-western and north-eastern regions of Karnataka - all bordering Maharashtra.
After the implementation of the State Reorganization Act, of 1956, the Maharashtra government demanded the readjustment of its border with Karnataka. Following this, a four-member committee was formed by both states.
Maharashtra government had expressed willingness to transfer Kannada-speaking 260 villages predominantly, but it was turned down by Karnataka.
Now, both Karnataka and Maharashtra governments have approached the Supreme Court to expedite the matter, and the matter is still pending. (ANI)