Goan minister Vinod Palekar calls Kannadigas ‘haramis’
Belagavi: Goa Irrigation Minister Vinod Palekar who visited the Khanapura taluk site where Kalasa Nala works are being carried out, insulted the people of Karnataka by calling them illegitimate-born (‘harami’).
Palekar who inspected the nala works near Kanakumbi, expressed dissatisfaction about the Siddaramaiah-led Congress government in the state.
Palekar said that the Karnataka government had disobeyed a Supreme Court order and is playing ‘dirty politics’. Goa Chief Minister writing to Karnataka BJP president B S Yeddyurappa was not a court’s order he clarified.
“Mahadayi is our mother. Why should we bother about farmers protesting in Karnataka? There is no question of releasing water till the dispute is settled by the Water Tribunal,” he said and returned to Goa.
The minister who was later questioned by Goan journalists why he visited the Kalasa nala site with police protection, Palekar has called Kannadigas ‘haramis’.
“Hence I went with police protection,” he has justified to Goan scribes.
Karnataka Water Resources Minister M B Patil is scheduled to visit the Kalasa Nala site on Monday.