New Delhi: Union Home Minister Amit Shah said the Maharashtra-Karnataka border row can be settled only by constitutional methods and not on road, news agency ANI reported. He also urged both the states not to politicise the matter.
After a meeting with Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai and Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, Shah said a six-member panel has been formed by the Centre with ministers from both the states to address the issue.
"The meeting between Maharashtra and Karnataka on the border issue was held in a positive atmosphere today. Keeping a positive approach, CMs of both states agreed that a resolution should be reached in a constitutional manner," ANI quoted Shah as saying.
"As long as the SC verdict on this matter is not out, the two states will not make any claim or create any demand on the other. Second, three ministers from each of these two states will sit together & discuss about making detailed percolation in this matter," he said.
It is to be noted that Amit Shah had called the chief ministers of both the states after violence flared up in the border region, where Maharashtra has staked claim on 865 Marathi-speaking villages in Karnataka.
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Karnataka Home Minister Araga Jnanendra were also present at the meeting on Wednesday.
Notably, the Karnataka-Maharashta border row escalated into violence after vehicles from both states were attacked and damaged in Belgaon and Pune.
Since its creation on May 1, 1960, Maharashtra has claimed 865 villages, including Belgaon (now Belgavi), Karwar and Nippani, should be merged into Maharashtra. Karnataka, however, has refused to part with its territory.