2 Deputy CMs lash out at Thackeray for raising border issue

Two Deputy Chief Ministers ofKarnataka on Sunday lashed out at Maharashtra Chief MinisterUddhav Thackeray for raking up the border issue and alleged hewas doing so to divert attention from infighting in thecoalition government there.

Thackeray had been raising the issue of merger ofBelagavi, Karwar and Nippani which has a strong presence ofMarathi speaking people, with his state.

He had recently demanded that the Marathi speaking regionsin Karnataka be declared a Union Territory till the SupremeCourt gives its final verdict.

Deputy CM Govind Karjol said Thackeray should rememberthat Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, whom the Shiv Sena perceivesas its icon and named its party after him, was ''a Kannadiga.'' ''Thackeray does not know history. Shivaji's forefatherBelliyappa was from Soratur in Gadag district in Karnataka.

When there was drought in Gadag, Belliyappa left forMaharashtra.

Shivaji was the fourth generation of the family,'' Karjolsaid.

He opined that Thackeray had been raising this issue justto divert attention from the infighting in the coalitiongovernment headed by him and fear of losing power Echoing similar views, Deputy CM Laxman Savadi allegedthat the Maharashtra government had failed miserably onvarious counts.

He also alleged that Thackeray could not carry out anypro-people measures during the COVID-19 pandemic due to whichhe was losing his popularity.

Savadi had on January 27 dwelt on Thackeray's statementand said Mumbai should be part of Karnataka and that theCentre should declare it a Union territory till then.

Ramesh Jarkiholi,Minister in-charge of Belagavi district,which borders Maharashtra, had spoken along the lines of theDeputy CMs today Minister for Women and Child Development Shashikala Jolle,who hails from Belagavi district, had said Belgavi is the landfrom where Kittur Rani Chennamma had led an armed rebellionagainst the British for freedom.