Maharashtra ministers says no change in plan, will visit Belagavi

BELAGAVI: A day after Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai attempted to put brakes on the visit
Maharashtra cabinet ministers Chandrakant Patil and Shambhuraj Desai to Belagavi amid the ongoing border row, Patil announced on Saturday that his visit to Belagavi is already confirmed and that he will be in the city on December 6 as planned.

Speaking to reporters in Mumbai on Saturday, Patil said he has so far not received a fax or letter from Bommai. Patil said he has been invited to Belagavi to attend several programmes on the occasion of Dr B R Ambedkar Mahaparinirvan Din on December 6.

Patil said he will be visiting the families of those who died in clashes that took place over the boundary dispute in the past. The minister will also be garlanding the statues of Chatrapathi Shivaji Maharaj and Dr BR Ambedkar in Belagavi city.

Patil further said he will also discuss with leaders in Belagavi about the facilities which the Maharashtra
government could possibly extend to the Marathi people in 865 border villages in Karnataka. According to sources, Patil will be holding meetings with several pro-Maharashtra leaders in Belagavi ahead of the Supreme Court hearing. Bommai had recently said that it was not advisable for the two Maharashtra
ministers to visit Belagavi at this juncture.

KRV CHIEF IN BELAGAVI ON DEC 6
President of Karnataka Rakshana Vedike T A Narayanagowda has decided to visit Belagavi on December 6, the same day when the two Maharashtra ministers will reach the city. According to sources, he has decided to come to Belagavi to “protect the larger interests of Kannadigas in the city.”