Devendra Fadnavis / Maharashtra government's big decision, all ST bus services going to Karnataka stopped

Devendra Fadnavis: A serious dispute has recently arisen between Maharashtra and Karnataka. The Maharashtra government has decided to stop all State Transport (ST) bus services from Maharashtra to Karnataka in protest against the attack on a bus driver in Karnataka. This decision of the Maharashtra government has affected the transport system between the two states.

What is the whole matter?

A few days ago, a driver of a government bus of Maharashtra State Transport Corporation (MSRTC) was attacked in Belgaum, Karnataka. It is being told that the driver was beaten up by pro-Kannada activists as he did not know the Kannada language. After this incident, protests were held by bus drivers in many parts of Maharashtra.

Reaction of Maharashtra Government

Maharashtra Transport Minister Pratap Sarnaik took a tough stand on this incident and ordered to stop all bus services of State Transport Corporation (MSRTC) going to Karnataka. He said that bus services from Maharashtra to Karnataka will not be restored until the Karnataka government takes clear action on this issue.

Sarnaik further said that on Friday night, pro-Kannada activists attacked a bus going from Mumbai to Bengaluru in Chitradurga, Karnataka and beat up the driver Bhaskar Jadhav and blackened his face. This attack forced the Maharashtra government to take strict action.

Passengers are facing trouble

After this decision of the Maharashtra government, passengers are facing a lot of inconvenience. More than 50 government buses used to run from Maharashtra to Karnataka daily, but now their services have stopped. This is causing difficulty to those passengers who had to go to Karnataka for important work.

Political tension and future prospects

This matter is also taking a political color. The Maharashtra government is demanding concrete action from the Karnataka government on this issue. On the other hand, the Karnataka government has not given any official statement on this till now. If no solution is found soon, this dispute can increase further and can also affect the relations between the two states.

It is clear from this tough decision of the Maharashtra government that unless the Karnataka government intervenes in this matter, there is little chance of this dispute being resolved. Now it remains to be seen what stand the Karnataka government takes on this issue and how it is resolved.