Maha being misled over 'fake' Twitter account issue amid border row: Chavan

Senior Congress leader Ashok Chavan claimed Maharashtra was being misled over the issue of Karnataka CM Basavaraj Bommai's 'fake' Twitter handle amid the boundary dispute between the two states

Senior Congress leader Ashok Chavan on Monday claimed Maharashtra was being misled over the issue of Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai's 'fake' Twitter handle amid the boundary dispute between the two states.

Talking to reporters in the Vidhan Bhavan complex here, Chavan asked why the Maharashtra government was silent in the matter and said it seemed the state government was helping Karnataka to brush aside the controversy over the issue of the 'fake' Twitter account from which "provocative comments" were made.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde last week said tweets in the name of his Karnataka counterpart claiming some areas of Maharashtra were not actually posted by Bommai.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who last week met the chief ministers of Maharashtra and Karnataka to defuse the border tensions between the two states, had said fake tweets in the name of top leaders also escalated the issue.

The dispute centres on Maharashtra's claims on Belagavi and the surrounding region in northern Karnataka which has a sizable Marathi-speaking population.

Chavan on Monday said the provocative language used in the tweets was objectionable.

''It was clarified that the Twitter handle was fake. But the handle was active since January 2015 and has been verified by Twitter. Till now, the official decisions taken by the Karnataka government are posted on that handle,'' the former Maharashtra CM said.

If the Twitter handle was fake, why the tweets related to Maharashtra have not been deleted. How is the Twitter account still active? he asked.

"The Maharashtra government is being misled over the fake Twitter handle issue," he alleged.

Chavan said Maharashtra's stand was always that of understanding. The Karnataka chief minister makes "provocative remarks" and it is not countered, he claimed.

''It looks like the Maharashtra government is helping Karnataka to brush aside the controversy over the fake Twitter handle. Why is the Maharashtra government going soft on this?'' he asked.