Nationalist Congress Party leader Ajit Pawar on Friday said Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and his deputy Devendra Fadnavis must give a befitting reply to Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai for laying his state's claim on several areas of Maharashtra.

Bommai had claimed predominantly Kannada-speaking panchayats in Jat taluka in Sangli district had passed resolutions in the past to merge with Karnataka when there was a severe drought situation and acute drinking water crisis.