Will not cede an inch: Karnataka CM on border row with Maharashtra

Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], May 2 (ANI): Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Monday appealed to the politicians of Maharashtra to give up raising border issues for their political survival and said there is "no question of ceding even an inch" of the state's land.
"The state government's stand is very clear on the border issue," he told media persons after participating in a function organised by the Social Welfare Department.
His statement comes a day after Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar backed his government's campaign of supporting the fight of Marathi-speaking people residing in border areas of Karnataka to include them in Maharashtra.
Noting that there are many Kannada speaking areas in Maharashtra, Bommai said that "the state government is mulling to take up their cause too."
"It is very mean on part of the Maharashtra politicians to raise the border and language issues for their political survival," Bommai said.
He also said, "The politicians of Maharashtra raise the border and language issue whenever they face a political crisis in their state."
"Whenever there's a political crisis in Maharashtra, and it's there now, their entire government hits rock bottom. They have created this language bogey now, just to survive politically," Bommai said.
On the occasion of Maharashtra Day yesterday, Pawar backed the campaign to make the Marathi-speaking villages at the border, including Belgaum, Nipai and Karwar, a part of the state.
"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," Pawar had said. (ANI)