Congress MLA blasts State, Centre on Belagavi border issue

Mangaluru: State deputy leader of the opposition in the Assembly and MLA from Mangaluru city constituency, UT Khader has lambasted the Central and State governments for 'engineering' the Belagavi border issue with Maharashtra Addressing a press conference in the city on Friday, he said the state had mishandled the issue and if the centre did not intervene immediately, more damage could happen to the federal nature of the country.

"Chief Minister of the state is not taking bold decisions in this regard. Kannadigas there are suffering. Without taking proper decision CM is betraying the people of the state. Chief Minister should explain why the government cannot take strong decision over border dispute between two states," he said.

Despite claiming to be a double-engine government, he questioned why the Center and the State have been unable to resolve the problem. Are they going to bulldoze the people because they're in trouble, the government? He inquired.

He explained why there was no response from the union government. "Silence has betrayed people of the state. The government should stop conflict. It is responsibility of government to ensure peace," he said.

He added that Congress is working on the basis of Indian Constitution drafted by Dr B R Ambedkar. On immoral policing, he said that the government should take stringent action and police should book culprits suo moto. "People are losing faith in the government," Khader said.