Amit Shah may meet Maharashtra, Karnataka CMs on December 14 over border row

Union Home Minister Amit Shah could meet the chief ministers of Maharashtra and Karnataka in the national capital on December 14 to soothe tempers on the border dispute between the two states, NCP leader Amol Kolhe said here on Friday.

The two states have BJP or BJP-led coalition governments, while in Maharashtra, the opposition, including the NCP, has upped the ante on the issue.

Kolhe was speaking to reporters after a delegation of parliamentarians of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), which comprises the Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress, met Shah to air their grievances on the border dispute.

The MVA delegation complained to Shah about the "insulting references" to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj by Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshiyari and some BJP leaders.

"The home minister gave us a patient hearing and assured the MVA parliamentarians that he will call chief ministers of Maharashtra and Karnataka on December 14 and work towards finding a cordial solution to the issue," Kolhe, the Lok Sabha member from Shirur in Maharashtra, said.

On Thursday, MVA MPs had written to Shah warning that the Karnataka-Maharashtra border row had reached a stage where it could erupt into full-blown violence and sought his intervention. In a letter to Shah, they claimed that "high-handed" actions by Karnataka had "hurt the sentiments" of the Marathi-speaking people in the border districts when the matter was in the Supreme Court.

Since its creation on May 1, 1960, Maharashtra has claimed that 865 villages, including Belgaum (now Belagavi), Karwar and Nippani, should be merged into Maharashtra. Karnataka, however, has refused to part with its territory. The Karnataka-Maharashta border row escalated into violence after vehicles from both states were attacked and damaged in Belagavi and Pune.