NCP chief Sharad Pawar chants ‘Jai Karnataka’

Belagavi: Sharad Pawar, chief of National Congress Party (NCP) raised the eyebrows of Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti (MES)leaders by concluding his speech with ‘Jai Karnataka’ at the Chhatrapati Shivaji statue unveiling programme organised by Maratha community at the border town of Chikkodi on Wednesday.
Pawar's chanting of ‘Jai Karnataka’, came as a surprise to everyone including CM Siddaramaiah and ministers of the state sitting on dais.
Further, Pawar said both Karnataka- Maharashtra states have been sharing good relations since decades.In cases of drought and other natural calamities, both the states have come forward to rescue each other. This time, a severe drought has hit both the states, with the situation in Maharashtra being more critical. “Despite that, I hope Maharashtra will come to help the farmers of Krishna belt at the Karnataka border by releasing water from Koyna Dam”, he said.
Former Maharashtra CM Prithviraj Chavan said, Maharashtra has decided to release 1 rmcft water to Krishna river against the Karnataka’s demand of 4tmcft. He further said that the Karnataka govt should come forward to the help of people of Solapur, Jat and Akkalkot on Maharashtra border by providing backwaters of Alamatti Dam.
Ministers RV Deshpande and Satish Jarkiholi, MLAs Ashop Pattan, Ganesh Hukkeri and Arvind Patil, ex Maharashtra ministers Jayant Kadam and SR More were also present.