IT WAS, IS ‘ AND WILL BE OURS’

Maharashtra Deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar has lashed out at Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister Laxman Savadi’s remark, dismissing it as baseless, saying that it was best to ignore it and that Mumbai had no connection with Karnataka. “The Deputy Chief Minister of Karnataka has made this argument to please the people of Karnataka,’’ he noted. “Mumbai belongs to Maharashtra. It was ours yesterday, is ours today and will be ours in the future, too. Nobody can change this.

Everyone knows it. Hence, there is no need to pay attention to what he said. In my opinion, he should be ignored,’’ opined Pawar.

Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut slammed Savadi saying that he should understand history. He claimed that the Kannada-speaking people residing in Maharashtra want the Marathi-dominated areas in their home state to be included in Maharashtra. The Maharashtra government provides grants to Kannada schools, libraries and cultural organisations in the state, he said. "Does this happen in Belgaum?" he asked. He said Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray would implement the state's development agenda only. “Savadi should come to Mumbai and Maharashtra and ask the Kannada-speaking people, who will tell him that Belgaum and other Marathi-dominated areas in his state should be merged with Maharashtra," Raut opined. The verbal duel is expected to continue, as both the Sena-led MVA and BJP know that the Supreme Court is the "last weapon for the state".