Find Fake Twitter Accounts "Mastermind" For Fuelling State Border Row: Ajit Pawar

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Ajit Pawar on Thursday demanded that the Union government find out the "mastermind" behind the 'fake' Twitter accounts which allegedly fuelled tensions over the boundary dispute between Maharashtra and Karnataka.

He was responding to Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde's claim that tweets in the name of Karnataka Chief Minister claiming some areas of Maharashtra were not actually posted by Basavaraj Bommai.

On Wednesday, Union home minister Amit Shah, who met the chief ministers of both the states, had said that fake tweets in the name of top leaders also escalated the issue.

Talking to reporters here, Pawar, the Leader of Opposition in Maharashtra Assembly, said the border dispute is before the Supreme Court, and if Karnataka CM Bommai had not made unwarranted comments, tensions would not have risen.

''This led to residents of border villages in Maharashtra talking about joining Karnataka due to lack of development," he said.

"The mastermind behind the fake Twitter accounts, whose tweets hurt the sentiments and sparked protests, should be found out," Pawar added.

The NCP leader also demanded that senior lawyer Harish Salve be engaged to represent Maharashtra in the case before the Supreme Court.

On Wednesday, Union home minister Shah had asked chief ministers of the two states to set up a six-member joint ministerial panel to deal with the dispute and not make any claims till the SC pronounces its verdict.

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

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)