Terming Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar’s statement — extending his Government’s support for merger of Maratha- speaking areas in Karnataka with Maharashtra — as “immature and arrogant”, the former Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy on Sunday said such statements will hurt federal spirit in the country.
“Mr. Pawar is showing the aggressive nature shown by the Chinese. His brain must be working backwards if he is still speaking about border issues even after 75 years of country’s independence,” Mr. Kumaraswamy tweeted on Sunday.
The former Chief Minister’s response came after statements made by Mr. Pawar in Pune during the Maharashtra Day celebrations on Sunday.
Reminding Mr. Pawar that several Kannada-speaking areas are part of Maharashtra, Mr. Kumaraswamy said that a dead issue is being flagged for political gains, and it is better to shed the aggressive posture. “Instead of propagating harmonious relationship between the two linguistic groups speaking Kannada and Marathi, these statements are being made to mislead people. Mr. Pawar is not interested in development issues in his State.”
Stating that such statements affect federal structure and unity of the country, the former Chief Minister accused political dispensations in Maharashtra of ignoring development works in the border areas for political reasons. He said: “I took the historical decision to construct Suvarna Soudha in Belagavi due to the interference of Maharashtra politicians, including Ajit Pawar, who used a Maharashtra politician serving as Union Home Minister (Shivaraj Patil) in the UPA government in 2006.”
