CM firm on tackling border issue in Belgaum

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Monday said necessary measures would be taken to maintain law and order in Belgaum, especially in Yellur, where clashes had erupted recently after members of Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti reinstalled a board claiming that the border villages belonged to Maharashtra.

Addressing the media at the Hubli airport, en route to Gadag to attend various programmes the chief minister said, “We did not allow the members of Shiva Sena and the Nationalist Congress Party to enter Belgaum. When we went to arrest the Shiva Sena members while they were trying to create trouble in the area, they ran away. At no cost will we allow any party to take political advantage of the situation.”

When asked about banning MES and other pro-Marathi parties in the State, he said, “MES and other parties are not from another country. They are a part of India. We will take all legal and political steps to tackle the threats posed by such parties.”

On the BJP’s demand that the government hand over the Arakavati Layout denotification case to the CBI, the chief minister said the State’s inquiry departments were quite capable of handling the issue.“

The BJP has no right to demand a CBI inquiry into the case as they had never, in their five years’ rule, had given any of their corruption cases to the Central investigating agency,” he said and termed the BJP and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh “the fount of lies.”