Forum sets Aug 21 deadline for state to take final call

KOLHAPUR: Leaders of the all-party meeting supporting the merger of 18 fringe villages into civic limits staged a protest outside the Kolhapur Municipal Corporation (KMC) building on Sunday.

A leader said that the forum will hold an indefinite fast from August 22 if the state fails to issue a notification announcing the merger.

The leaders and workers of several parties and organisations protested outside the KMC building for three hours. Around 250 party workers attended the protest. Mayor Ashwini Ramane and other forum leaders said that the chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and the district guardian minister Chandrakant Patil were unable to take the decision owing to opposition from the Shiv Sena and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLAs.

"Villagers are using the KMC's services such as transport, water and fire safety and are still opposing the merger plan. Several reports show that the merger is the only solution for the city to grow and economically prosper. We expect that the CM and the district guardian minister take a final call in the next three or four days," Ramane said.

Ramane and a delegation of the forum had met with Fadnavis on Friday, while he was en route to Sangli. The CM had promised that a decision on the issue will be taken soon. However, the CM's assurance has irked villagers and MLAs opposing the merger. Villagers will hold a protest march at the district collector's office on Tuesday.

Lashing out at MLAs from his own parties, Sena MLA Rajesh Kshirsagar said, "The chief minister had promised to issue a merger notification before the end of the legislative session when I participated in the fast. However, it seems that the CM has betrayed us and is succumbing to pressure of MLAs from the rural constituencies."

After a consultation with other leaders, forum convenor R K Powar announced that they had set a deadline of August 21 for the state to take a decision. "If the state fails to take a decision, we will start an indefinite hunger strike outside the KMC building," Powar said.

During the protest, Patil had called Kshirsagar and said that he spoke to the CM on Saturday night. "The minister told me that the CM is ready to hold a meeting with prominent leaders of both sides in the next two days. A decision will be taken in favour of the city's growth," Kshirsagar said.