Karnataka CM Yediyurappa clarifies on issue of opening borders to Kerala
Bengaluru: Opening of Karnataka's borders to Kerala at this point in time will be like "embracing death," Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa said on Saturday making clear his government's stand not opening the state border.
The Chief Minister repeatedly said that for his government interest of the people of the state was supreme. Yediyurappa made his stand clear in a letter to former Prime Minister and JD(S) patriarch H D Deve Gowda.
Gowda had recently written to the Chief Minister on March 31 seeking relaxation of the border restrictions on "humanitarian" grounds.
He had also written to Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan expressing his anguish against Karnataka authorities for imposing restriction and promising to raise the matter with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Stating the decision to close the border was not sudden, Yediyurappa said, it was a conscious decision after analysing the health situation in the area following the spread of COVID-19.
The Chief Minister cited the Indian Medical Association, Mangaluru branch data regarding the spread of Covid-19 in Kasargod of Kerala and surrounding areas which was alarming.
Noting that the region has nearly 106 positive coronavirus cases, he said, "this is the region with most number of infections in the country."
If this restriction is removed, it puts the health of the people of Karnataka in to risk and create a situation of "embracing death", so we will not be able to open the border, Yediyurappa said.
He also clarified that there was no prejudice behind his government's decision, and the interest of the people of the state was of utmost importance.
"...There is also no political maliciousness. We want to have good and brotherly relationship with neighbouring states," he said, adding that opening the border will open a pandora's box that will be disastrous for the state.
Yediyurappa also thanked opposition parties for their support to his government in its fight against COVID-19.
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Rickelton's ton in vain as SRH beat MI by 6 wickets
Mumbai (PTI): Ryan Rickelton's whirlwind unbeaten ton was overshadowed by Heinrich Klaasen's unbeaten 65 as Sunrisers Hyderabad defeated Mumbai Indians by six wickets in an IPL match here on Wednesday.
Chasing an imposing 244-run target, Travis Head (76 off 30) and Abhishek Sharma (45 off 24) shared 129 runs for the opening wicket to set the platform for SRH.
Klaasen (65 not out off 30 balls) then displayed his all-round hitting abilities to guide SRH home with the help of Nitish Kumar Reddy (21) and Salil Arora (30 not out off 10) in 18.4 overs.
Earlier, Rickelton's knock powered MI to 243 for five.
MI rode on a 93-run stand between Rickelton (123 not out off 55 balls) and Will Jacks (46 off 22) in 7.1 overs for the opening stand to power the side.
MI skipper Hardik Pandya scored a valuable 31 off 15 balls before being dismissed.
Praful Hinge (2/54), Eshan Malinga (1/29), Sakib Hasan (1/39) and Nitish Kumar Reddy (1/31) were the wicket-takers for SRH.
Brief Scores:
Mumbai Indian: 243 for 5 in 20 overs (Ryan Rickelton 123 not out; Praful Hinge 2/54).
Sunrisers Hyderabad: 249 for 4 in 18.4 overs (Travis Head 76, Heinrich Klaasen 65 not out; AM Ghazanfar 2/51).
