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Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut on Wednesday welcomed Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis's decision to stop the appointment of some of the ministers' personal secretaries (PSs) and officers on special duty (OSDs) on the suspicion of them being "fixers".
"I welcome the decision of CM Devendra Fadnavis when he said that a few OSDs and PSs of ministers are involved in corruption and for that he used the term 'fixer'. And he said that he did not allow them to be appointed," Raut told reporters here. Raut however said that the names of the ministers who recommended these "fixers" should also be revealed to the public. "If he observed something like this and to prevent the corruption, if he takes some action; all should welcome that. But the names of the ministers should also be revealed to the public," he said. On the ongoing dispute over language in the border district of Belagavi, Raut said that there should be talks between the Karnataka and the Maharashtra governments. "Belagavi border dispute is in the Supreme Court, but whichever government in Karnataka whether it belongs to the Congress or the BJP, their behaviour is to create problems for the Marathi-speaking people in Belagavi. They close Marathi schools and libraries. Do they want to create Manipur-like situation in Belagavi?" he said. "Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar should speak to the people. And what is the Maharashtra government doing? A minister should be sent there and should talk with the Karnataka government," he added. Interstate bus services between Karnataka and Maharashtra were suspended for the second day in a row on Sunday as protests continued over the ongoing dispute over language in the border district of Belagavi. Shiv Sena (UBT) workers staged a protest in Pune's Swargate area on Saturday night, blackening buses with Karnataka number plates. This action followed the assault of a Marathi-speaking bus driver in Chitradurga, Karnataka, who was allegedly attacked for not speaking in Kannada. On February 21, a Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) driver was assaulted while on duty in Chitradurga, Karnataka, according to Abhijit Bhosale, CPRO of MSRTC. After the incident, MSRTC cancelled the service of its buses going from Kolhapur to Karnataka. "As per the directions of Transport Minister Pratap Sarnaik, ST buses going from Kolhapur to Karnataka state have been cancelled for an indefinite period for the safety of passengers and employees travelling in Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation buses," Bhosale said. The incident occurred on the night of February 21, when a bus (MH14 K Q 7714) travelling from Bangalore to Mumbai was stopped two kilometres behind Chitradurga. Activists from a Karnataka-based organisation allegedly attacked the bus and assaulted the driver, Bhaskar Jadhav, who was on duty, said MSRTC. (ANI)
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