Mumbai: Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray on Monday said he would meet BJP president Nitin Gadkari over the state`s long standing border dispute with Karnataka.
"I will personally meet BJP president Nitin Gadkari on December 21 over the issue in Nagpur. I am also ready to meet the Chief Minister of Karnataka," he told reporters here after meeting a delegation of Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti (MES).
Taking potshots at the rival Shiv Sena, Thackeray said had the party pressed for demand when the NDA was at the Centre, the issue would have been resolved by now.
"I don`t know whether it will be resolved now. I have no idea," he said. Lawyers appointed by the Maharashtra government were not present on eight occasions when the case came up for hearing in the Supreme Court, he alleged.
Thackeray felt the issue had to be tackled practically and not emotionally.
"By shutting down Maharashtra or staging protests or vandalising vehicles the issue will not be resolved," he said.
"For how long will people from the Karnataka-Maharashtra border areas stage demonstrations? I told them (delegation) the reason why Karnataka government was committing atrocities on them was because they speak Marathi or want to be part of Maharashtra. Since they are living in Karnataka they should know Kannada language, like people of Maharashtra should know Marathi. "The situation in Maharashtra too is not hunky-dory. If people from border areas want to come in Maharashtra would we be able to provide them proper facility. They will have to face various problems like that of load-shedding," he said.
The issue has to be resolved at once. It is the question of survival of over 25 lakh people. The youth`s view should also be taken into consideration, he said.
Earlier, during the meeting, Thackeray asked the members of the MES delegation whether they had met Karnataka Chief Minister DV Sadananda Gowda and apprised him of the issue.
PTI