NCP seeks Shah’s intervention in boundary dispute between Maharashtra and Karnataka

The party’s MP Supriya Sule criticised Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai for his comments on the issue

The tensions between the Maharashtra and the Karnataka government over issues related to State boundaries rang out in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday, with Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) MP Supriya Sule criticising Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai and urging Union Home Minister Amit Shah to intervene, with “BJP-led governments in both States”.

“For the past 10 days, a new issue has cropped up in Maharashtra. The Chief Minister of our neighbouring State, Karnataka has been speaking nonsense. Yesterday, people of Maharashtra wanted to go to the Karnataka border but they were thrashed,” Ms. Sule said in the Lok Sabha.

She alleged that a “conspiracy against Maharashtra is going on for past 10 days. Karnataka Chief Minister is speaking about disintegrating Maharashtra. Both States are BJP-ruled. People of Maharashtra were beaten up yesterday. This can’t be allowed. This is one country. I urge Amit Shah to speak up.”

At this Shivakumar Udasi, BJP MP from Haveri (Karnataka) objected to Ms. Sule’s remark, saying the matter was subjudice. Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla interjected after this and said that the matter was a sensitive issue between two States. Thereafter, NCP members staged a walk out from the House in protest. The boundary dispute, an issue that dates back to 1957 and the reorganisation of States on linguistic lines, has led to clashes between the two States recently.