Kotia Row: All Party Meet Decides To Knock PM's Door If CS-Level Talks Fail

A day after the Odisha and Andhra Pradesh governments agreed to set up an institutional mechanism to deliberate on various issues gripping the states including the contentious border dispute at Kotia, an all-political party meeting was held today in Koraput to bolster the roadmap for Odisha's efforts in resolving the row.

Representatives of all major political parties including the ruling BJD, BJP and Congress unanimously voted in favour of approaching Union Home Minister Amit Shah or Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the event issue could not be resolved amicably between the states. 

The parties criticised the acts of the Andhra Pradesh government in distributing land pattas in the disputed region even though the row pertaining to its ownership is pending in the Supreme Court of India.

A resolution was also passed to suggest the Chief Secretaries of both the States to include people's representatives in the high-level committee to resolve the border dispute. 

The parties also unequivocally decided to make a proposal for meeting with the Chief Secretaries of both the states and appointment of a nodal officer for border demarcation activities. 

Senior leaders of BJD, BJP and Congress including Jayaram Pangi, Tara Prasad Bahinipati, Ishwar Chandra Panigrahy, Chairman of Odisha State seeds Corporation participated in the all-party meeting.

Earlier in the day, the Opposition political parties came down heavily on the Odisha government for sitting with the Andhra administration without setting the agenda straight.

The Congress termed the Naveen-Jagan meeting an ‘eyewash' while the BJP said that while Odisha government could not use the interaction to put forward its genuine concerns over the border dispute, Andhra Chief Minister Jagan Reddy managed to seek help for Neradi barrage.