Maharashtra delegation to meet PM over Karnataka border dispute

A high-level delegation from Maharashtra would meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah soon to discuss the long-pending vexed boundary dispute with Karnataka.

To coordinate issues vis-a-vis the Maharashtra-Karnataka boundary dispute, a meeting chaired by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde appointed two senior ministers - Higher Education Minister Chandrakant Patil and State Excise Minister Shambhuraj Desai.

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The government also appointed legal expert Vaidyanathan to pursue the legal battle in the Supreme Court.

Those present in the meeting include Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Leader of Opposition in Council Ambadas Danve, former Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan.

“We are fully behind people living in border areas,” Shinde told the meeting held at the Sahyadri guest house on Monday.

“We will meet the Prime Minister and the Union Home Minister regarding this issue soon,” said Fadnavis.

Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti’s President Kiran Thakur was also present in the meeting.

This is the first major meeting of the new Shinde-Fadnavis administration on the issue of Maharashtra-Karnataka boundary dispute.

Shinde announced the pension scheme for freedom fighters will cover those in the areas claimed by Maharashtra but in the administrative control of neighbouring Karnataka.

“The government was positive about extending benefits of the Mahatma Phule Jan Aarogya Yojana to people living in these areas,” he said.