Karnataka challenging border plea

Karnataka government has decided to challenge the "admissibility and maintainability" of a petition filed by Maharashtra before the Supreme Court seeking to reopen the boundary dispute between the states, chief minister N Dharam Singh said on Thursday.

Speaking to reporters after receiving a memorandum by Kannada Organisations' Action Committee here, Singh asserted that the recommendations of the Mahajan Commission, appointed to adjudicate the boundary dispute between Karnataka and Maharastra, "is final".

"The state has filed an application before the apex court questioning the maintainability of Maharashtra's petition," he said.

Accusing Maharashtra of raking up the already settled issue with an eye on the coming assembly elections, he said

Karnataka would not be found wanting in exerting political pressure on the centre for implementation of the Mahajan report in toto.

He said if the situation warranted, he would lead an all-party delegation to the Centre seeking its intervention to resolve the tangle. Singh assured the delegation that the state would make every possible effort to protect its interests.

The state cabinet at its meeting which deliberated on the issue on Wednesday, set up a cabinet sub-committee and an advisory committee to guide the government.