Bengaluru: Karnataka Minister of Textiles Shankar B Patil Munenakoppa on Thursday termed Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao 's remark on Raichur as politically motivated. At a party event on Wednesday, Rao lauded the schemes launched by his government saying no other government in the country has them. He said the people in Raichur have been demanding that the district be merged with Telangana in view of the welfare schemes and development taking place in the neighbouring State.
The Karnataka government has identified Yadgir and Raichur as priority districts'. Now, a lot of development will take place there. Keeping in mind the push Raichur would get, the Telangana Chief Minister raised the issue...which is far-fetched, Munenakoppa told PTI. This statement is politically motivated, hence it does not require any reaction, the Minister added.
The BJP's Raichur MLA Shivaraj Patil said the Telangana Chief Minister should think of the welfare of his own State instead of talking about Raichur. Since he (KCR as the Telangana Chief Minister is also known by) does not have any good thing to talk about his own state, he is speaking about Raichur, Munenakoppal told PTI. He said which government would allow even an inch of land to be given to other State let alone an entire district. The Congress in Karnataka launched an attack on the State government for not reacting or condemning KCR's statement.
Congress MLA and former minister Priyank Kharge tweeted, Dear @CMofKarnataka, I am disappointed that not a single statement from you or anybody in the Govt on CM KCR garu's claim that people of Raichur want to merge with Telangana because of their welfare schemes. It has been over 24 hours. Why this stepmotherly attitude towards Kalyana Karnataka (KK) region? If it was #Belagavi border issue, entire Cabinet would have come out in defence, why not for us? Does BJP government consider us a part of Karnataka or not? What action have you taken against your MLA who had suggested merger with Telangana? Kharge sought to know.
Sharing a video of Dr S Shivaraj Patil's statement in front of Karnataka Minister Prabhu Chavan complaining lack of development in the district, Kharge said why did the Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai or BJP State president Nalin Kumar Kateel not pull up the BJP MLA for such a statement in front of a Minister. Your inaction has encouraged Telangana Chief Minister to boldly stake claim to Raichur. This is unacceptable BJP. Raichur belongs to and will remain in Karnataka, Kharge said. Congress State working president Eshwar Khandre, too, condemned the statement by the Telangana Chief Minister and said Raichur would always be an integral part of Karnataka. (PTI)
