MUMBAI: The Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday criticised as unjust the affidavit filed by the Centre in the Supreme Court on the Maharashtra-Karnataka border dispute. The party held Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil responsible for the affidavit which, it said, sided with Karnataka.

At a press conference, Maharashtra BJP president Nitin Gadkari demanded the resignation of Central Ministers from the State. "There are so many stalwart politicians in key Cabinet posts, but they have betrayed the trust of the Marathi people."

Assembly resolution

Mr. Gadkari pointed out that the Assembly unanimously passed a resolution on the merger of border villages with Maharashtra when Mr. Patil was Speaker.

The Centre's affidavit, filed by the Home Ministry last week, "offended the self-esteem of the people of Maharashtra." The BJP would hold protests wherever Mr. Patil went.

Mr. Gadkari termed "irresponsible" Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh's statement that he did not know anything about the affidavit. "The Maharashtra Government should intervene and put forward its views in the Supreme Court."

Janata Dal (S) leader Sharad Patil said that according to press reports, the Centre's affidavit was of the view that the suit was not maintainable in law, and there was a time lapse.

Maharashtra filed a case in the Supreme Court in 2004 after attempts at resolving the over 50-year-old dispute failed. The Centre was given eight months to file its affidavit, Mr. Patil said.

In July, an all-party delegation led by Mr. Deshmukh called on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to demand an early response from the Centre in the apex court.

The Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti, spearheading the movement for merging the border areas of Karnataka with Maharashtra, then submitted a memorandum to Dr. Singh, saying a "grave injustice" was done to 20 lakh Marathi-speaking people living in 865 villages and cities such as Belgaum, Karwar and Nippani.

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