Centre to clarify stand on K'taka-M'rashtra boundary row today

Union govt did not file any affidavit, claims Chavan

“The Centre will make the clarification before the court on Monday,” Chavan told a news conference here on the eve of the commencement of the monsoon session of the state legislature.

Chavan would be leading an all-party delegation to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on July 14 to apprise him of the boundary dispute and the furore in the state over the Centre’s controversial stand on the issue.

Chavan said the prime minister has convened a meeting of chief ministers and home ministers on the Naxal problem on that day in Delhi. “I have sought an appointment with the PM to convey the strong sentiments of the people of Maharashtra to him on the boundary dispute. I will take the opposition leaders and the Central ministers from the state also as members of the delegation,” he said.

Chavan said the Prime Minister’s Office has already given an appointment to him on July 14. The timing for the meeting will be conveyed by the PMO to him shortly.
Chavan said the prime minister was aware of the seriousness and sensitivity of the issue.

The chief minister said the stand presented by the Centre in the Supreme Court last week was not an “affidavit”.

“The Centre’s stand was not an affidavit but a statement on the state’s interim application in the case. The clarification would be made in the court tomorrow. Our main petition still stands,” he said.

The chief minister, however, described as “objectionable,” the Centre’s remarks that the court rejected the application with a cost.

“All is not lost. The final decision is yet to come,” he added.