Police stop Shiv Sena activists from entering Belagavi at Maharashtra border
Belagavi (PTI): Shiv Sena activists on their way towards Belagavi to participate in the 'black day' event by Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti (MES), on the occasion of Karnataka formation day, were prevented entry by the police at the border between the two states on Wednesday.
They were stopped at Kognoli check post in Nippani taluk on the Pune-Bengaluru national highway here, police said.
According to police, about 30 Shiv Sena activists led by its Kolhapur district President Vijay Devane were stopped at the border from entering Belagavi and handed over to Kolhapur Police.
MES, which has been fighting for the merger of several Marathi-speaking areas and villages of the state with Maharashtra for long, observes 'Karnataka Rajyotsava' day as a black day every year.
The Belagavi administration had on Tuesday banned three Maharashtra ministers and an MP from entering this border district citing maintenance of law and order, as they are expected to participate in the "black day" event, foreseeing the chances of them making provocative speeches during the visit, also Kannada activists could gherao them, and it could result in clashes with MES activists.
Maharashtra Ministers Shambhuraje Desai, Chandrakant Patil, Deepak Kesarkar and MP Dhairyasheel Mane were expected to attend the MES event, official sources said.
MES had recently met Maharashtra Chief Minister Ekanath Shinde at Kolhapur, seeking his support on the boundary issue and requesting that he send representatives to take part in the MES event.
The border issue dates back to 1957 when states were reorganised on linguistic lines. Maharashtra laid claim to Belagavi, which was part of the erstwhile Bombay Presidency, as it has a sizeable Marathi-speaking population, and over 800 Marathi-speaking border villages that are currently a part of Karnataka.
Karnataka maintains that the demarcation done on linguistic lines as per the States Reorganisation Act and the 1967 Mahajan Commission Report is final.
To assert that Belagavi is an integral part of the state, Karnataka built the 'Suvarna Vidhana Soudha' there, modelled on the Vidhana Soudha, the seat of the State Legislature and Secretariat in Bengaluru.
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Assam CM flays Cong for 'not verifying' documents before making charges against his family
Sivasagar/Guwahati (PTI): Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday slammed the Congress for “not verifying” the documents based on which it brought allegations against him and his family.
Congress leader Pawan Khera had on Sunday alleged that Sarma’s wife, Riniki Bhuyan Sarma, has multiple passports and foreign property, which were not declared in the chief minister’s election affidavit.
Sarma also hit out at Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, claiming that he was “speaking like a madman” due to old age, after the latter put the onus on central agencies to probe the charges.
The CM asserted that Khera had “run away” to Hyderabad, but the Assam Police will “hunt him down even from ‘pataal’ (netherworld)”.
“‘Assam Police ko nahi jante hain.. Pataal se bhi ukhar ke le ayega’ (They don’t know the Assam Police... they will hunt him down even from the netherworld),” asserted Sarma.
An Assam Police team had earlier in the day visited the Delhi residence of Khera for questioning him in connection with the case.
“If they didn’t know the truth, why did they put it out in public? They should have asked the foreign minister first,” Sarma told reporters on the sidelines of an election campaign, when asked for his reaction to Kharge’s assertion that the Union government should probe the allegations now.
Kharge, at a presser in Guwahati on Tuesday, said all agencies are under the central government, which should probe the charges.
"They have already filed an FIR against Khera. Let them probe the matter. We will face the case as it progresses. We have sought probes by the ED or CBI into the allegations," he said.
Sarma added: “Kharge is ageing and is speaking like a ‘pagal’ (madman). You insult the people first and then say will ask the foreign minister (for verification)? Is he your ‘damad’ (son-in-law),” the chief minister said.
“I think Rahul Gandhi had given these documents to Khera, and if that is so, the case will then include Gandhi,” he added.
