Bengaluru, Aug 26: Seeing the row with the Centre escalating, Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy on Sunday aimed to play the peacemaker by reaching out to Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

Kumaraswamy appealed Sitharaman to "forgive and forget" the dispute with State Tourism Minister Sa Ra Mahesh, adding that his government values the "extensive assistance" from the Centre for rescue operations in flood-hit Kodagu.

In his letter to the Defence Minister, Kumaraswamy also praised Mahesh, claiming that "he has been tirelessly working on the ground" ever since the district was ravaged by floods. He, however, added that it was "unfortunate" that Sitharaman had to "face inconveniences" during her visit to Kodagu earlier in the week.

Here is the copy of the letter uploaded by the Karnataka CM on his Twitter handle:

During Sitharaman's visit to Kodagu on Friday, a row erupted after Mahesh, who is the district incharge Minister, asked her to immediately wind up her interaction with ex-servicemen and proceed for a meeting with officials.

Irked, the Defence Minister snapped at him before the media, saying, "I am following a minute-to-minute programme, minister. If officials are important, my parivaar (family) is also important.... Central minister follows the minister in-charge here. Unbelievable."

By 'parivar', she referred to the veterans who are considered as the fourth pillar of the defence.

Ministers of the Congress-JD(S) government, however, took offence to her remark. Deputy CM G Parameshwara said Sitharaman should not consider the State Ministers as "inferiors" to her.

"State Governments derive their powers from our Constitution not from the Centre. The Constitution has distributed powers among the Centre and States to ensure an equitable partnership between both. We are not inferior to the Centre. We are partners ," Parameshwara said.

Notably, the State-Centre clash comes at a time when the Chief Minister has sought Rs 2,000 crore as aid from the Centre for flood-wrecked Kodagu.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 26, 2018 08:23 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).