K'taka CM Bommai asks KCR to focus on backward Telangana

Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Saturday said there is no question of ceding even an inch of land to another State for any reason. He was reacting to his Telangana counterpart K Chandrashekar Rao's claim that Raichur district be merged with that State.

Terming the claim as "politically motivated" aimed at diverting the attention of people from core issues in Telangana, the Karnataka Chief Minister advised Rao to focus on improving Telangana.

"It is ridiculous, Raichur has a thermal plant, airport, and other developmental works are happening, lot of progress is taking place, and I have given enough funds this year under the Kalyana Karnataka Region Development Board (KKRDB) and lots of grants are on the way," Bommai. Speaking to reporters here, he said, "There was strife and Telangana ended up as a separate State which was backward, it is still so.

Let Rao focus on improving things there. We are committed to allround development of Raichur and there is no question of ceding even an inch of land to another State for any reason." Rao had said people of Raichur district were demanding that it be merged with Telangana because they were attracted by the welfare schemes being implemented in that district.