Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Monday said a political party was behind a sudden surge in the passing of resolutions by some villages in the border areas seeking to join Karnataka and Telangana.
Speaking at a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) function in Nagpur, Fadnavis, who holds the Home portfolio, cited intelligence input to say workers of a political party in those villages held such meetings with an intention to defame the Maharashtra government.
“There has been a surge in resolutions being passed by some villages in (border areas) of Maharashtra over the last few weeks seeking to merge with neighbouring Karnataka and Telangana. I am also a home minister and asked intelligence officials to find out the truth behind it.
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"It was evident that workers of a particular political party in those villages held such meetings to defame the state government", he said.
Fadnavis' disclosure came amid a charged political atmosphere in Maharashtra over the border dispute with Karnataka and the Opposition accusing the Eknath Shinde-BJP government of being indifferent to the plight of people living in Belagavi and other areas in the neighbouring southern state.
He is in Nagpur to attend the winter session of the state legislature which began on Monday.
“They (party workers) also intended to gain something out of such act (passing resolutions)," he added.
Fadnavis said during the tenure of the previous government (read Maha Vikas Aghadi), the Karnataka government had beaten up several people protesting for joining Maharashtra.
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"People should not forget this. Those governments, controlled by the current Opposition parties have done nothing to resolve the issue,” he alleged.
Fadnavis told the gathering that such "fake" narratives vis-a-vis border villages seeking to join other states should be fought against.
"There are only five district chiefs of BJP in Maharashtra who have been actively using their social media accounts effectively, while another 15 are doing good. The rest are either working poorly or are defunct. How will we ever counter their fake narratives with our work and truth?” he asked.
Fadnavis also said the BJP will remain the number one party in Maharashtra and will win a record number of seats in elections.
"Let others say contradictory things but people are with us,” he added.
