Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai strongly criticised the Maharashtra government's decision to extend its health insurance scheme to 865 border villages in Karnataka, which Maharashtra claims to have jurisdiction over. CM Bommai referred to the decision as an "unpardonable offence" and accused Maharashtra of violating the agreement made by both states in December 2022, which stated that they would not make any claims on the border issue until the Supreme Court had made a decision. He further stated that he would raise the issue with Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who had stepped in to defuse border tensions between the two states in December last year.
The latest tension between the two states arose after the Maharashtra government announced that it would allocate an additional Rs 54 crore to its health insurance scheme, so that the benefits could be extended to the border villages in Karnataka that Maharashtra claims. CM Bommai urged the Eknath Shinde-led Maharashtra government to withdraw its order on implementing the health insurance scheme in the villages on Karnataka's side of the border. ''Several Gram Panchayats and Taluks (on Maharashtra's side of the border) have made resolutions seeking to join Karnataka, as they are not getting justice in Maharashtra,'' he said.
CM Bommai warned against dredging up border issues, suggesting that it could backfire against Maharashtra. He also indicated that Karnataka could announce similar schemes or programmes in the border regions as well. Karnataka opposition leaders DK Shivakumar and Siddaramaiah also criticised the Maharashtra government's move, and called for CM Bommai's resignation for "having miserably failed to protect the interests of Karnataka and Kannadigas."