The Maharashtra-Karnataka border dispute

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The Maharashtra-Karnataka border dispute and why it remains unresolved

The Maharashtra-Karnataka border row escalated into violence on Tuesday after vehicles from both states were attacked and defaced in Belagavi and Pune, respectively. With the issue generating heated political debate in Maharashtra, Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis called Karnataka CM Basavaraj Bommai, expressing his displeasure. Shubhangi Khapre explains the decades-old matter, its current status and why it has erupted now.

What is the Maharashtra-Karnataka border dispute?

The Maharashtra and Karnataka boundary dispute has its origins in the reorganisation of states along linguistic lines via the State Reorganisation Act, 1956. Since its creation on May 1, 1960, Maharashtra has claimed that 865 villages, including Belagavi (then Belgaum), Carvar and Nipani, should be merged into Maharashtra. Karnataka, however, has refused to part with its territory.

On October 25, 1966, the Centre constituted the Mahajan Commission headed by the then Supreme Court Chief Justice Meher Chand Mahajan, at the insistence of Maharashtra. While rejecting Maharashtra’s claim over Belagavi (then Belgaum), the commission recommended 247 villages/places, including Jatt, Akkalkote and Solapur, to be made part of Karnataka. It also declared 264 villages /places, including Nippani, Khanapur and Nandagad, to be made part of Maharashtra.

However, the commission’s report was outrightly rejected by Maharashtra. While successive governments in Maharashtra maintained that the commission had not adequately addressed its concerns, Karnataka saw the commission ruling in its favour.

Several attempts were subsequently made to resolve the row but in vain. In 2004, the Maharashtra government filed a petition in the Supreme Court, staking claim over Marathi-speaking villages in Karnataka, which contested the claim. Exploiting public sentiments, Karnataka changed the name of Belgaum to Belagavi and made it the second capital of the state.

What is the status of the border dispute now?

Both Karnataka and Maharashtra reckon that the complex issue will not be resolved politically, and requires a legal solution. The Maharashtra-Karnataka border row has been pending before the Supreme Court since 2004. Both states have refused to budge from their respective stands. Successive governments at the Centre too have exercised caution on the issue. In 2010, the Centre in its affidavit had stated that the transfer of certain areas to then Mysore (now Karnataka) was neither arbitrary nor wrong. It had also underlined that both Parliament and the Union Government had considered all relevant factors while considering the State Reorganisation Bill, 1956, and the Bombay Reorganisation Bill, 1960.

What are its political ramifications?

Both Maharashtra and Karnataka have used the border dispute to stoke regional sentiments during elections. In Maharashtra, the boundary dispute is part of every political party’s election manifesto. It even features in the governor’s annual address to the joint session of the state legislative assembly and council. Setting aside their ideological differences, political parties in Maharashtra have found a common cause in the Maharashtra-Karnataka boundary row. Whether it is the ruling BJP and Balasahebanchi Shiv Sena (led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde) or Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray), Congress, NCP and MNS – all think that Marathi-speaking areas along the Karnataka border should merge with Maharashtra.

Why has the border dispute resurfaced?

Two weeks ago, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde convened a meeting in Mumbai to review the status of the border dispute. Shinde deputed two senior ministers, Chandrakant Patil and Shambhuraj Desai, to coordinate and pursue the border row, both on the legal front and politically. Apart from that, Shinde announced that freedom fighters in Belagavi and other Marathi-speaking areas in Karnataka would be eligible for pension and would also get free medical care under the Jyotiba Phule Jan Arogya scheme.

A day later, in Bengaluru, Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai announced grants for all Kannada schools in Maharashtra. Bommai also said that the Karnataka government was thinking of staking claim over 40 villages in Jatt taluka in Maharashtra’s Sangli district. The next day, Bommai said the Karnataka government would claim rights over border villages in Maharashtra’s Solapur district.

This prompted Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to assert that the government would “not let a single village go to Karnataka”. On the contrary, “Maharashtra will reclaim 865 villages, including Belgavi, Nipani and Carvar,” Fadnavis said.

Maharashtra had decided to send ministers Patil and Desai to visit Belagavi on December 6 to hold discussions with various organisations and people. The proposed visit, however, was postponed after the Karnataka government urged them not to send the delegation.

On Tuesday, though the Maharashtra ministers put off their Belagavi visit, Karnataka Rakshana Vedika activists, led by Narayan Gowda, went to Belagavi and allegedly attacked buses from Maharashtra by pelting stones at Hiregadwadi near Belagavi. In retaliation, Shiv Sena (UBT) workers defaced Karnataka buses in Pune.

https://indianexpress.com/article/c...a-karnataka-border-dispute-explained-8310391/

 

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Police Allow Opposition March Against Maharashtra Government Tomorrow

Mumbai Police today gave permission to Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) for its protest march in Mumbai on December 17 against the Eknath Shinde government and the Governor of the state- Bhagat Singh Koshiyari over his controversial remark over Chhatrapati Shivaji.

The march is scheduled to culminate in a rally outside Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus Maharaj (CSMT) station, where all the senior opposition leaders, including Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray, will address the crowd. NCP chief Sharad Pawar may participate in the rally.

On Thursday, MVA leaders announced that they would go ahead with the protest march regardless of whether permission was given.

Addressing the Press conference Uddhav Thackeray on Thursday had said, "On this 17th Dec, we will hold a 'Morcha' from Jijamata Udyan to Azad Maidan in Mumbai against the current state government and demands to remove Maharashtra's Governor, I appeal to all those who love Maharashtra to come together against those who have insulted the state."

Uddhav also slammed the state government over the Maharashtra-Karnataka border issue.

Stepping up its attack on the government, Thackeray said, "Karnataka has been asking for our areas, villages and even Jath, Solapur will they ask our Pandarpur Vithoba too? This raises one question-is there any govt in Maharashtra? Like before the Gujarat elections, some businesses were shifted there, so before the Karnataka elections will our villages be given to Karnataka?.."

"See how Karnataka CM statement and there is BJP govt in the state, and CM Shinde become CM here because of BJP, they are not saying anything on the issues and there is an attempt to insult our leaders and icons of Maharashtra so we are doing this aandolan," Leader of the opposition party Ajit Pawar said.

Congress leader Balasaheb Thorat said, "They have insulted Shivaji Maharaj, Jyotiba Phule and keep insulting and even Maharashtra Karnataka border issue and the statement given by Karnataka CM and here no one is replying in strong language from this government. All these issues must be addressed by this govt so we have decided to hold big Morcha."

The controversy erupted in the state after Maharashtra's Governor said that Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj was an "old icon".

Addressing a function at Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Marathwada University in Aurangabad on November 19, Governor Koshyari said, "If someone asks who your idol is, you don't have to go out looking for one. You will find them right here in Maharashtra. Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj has become an old idol now, you can find new ones -- from Babasaheb Ambedkar to (Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways) Nitin Gadkari."

This statement sparked a massive furore and drew censure from Maratha organisations and opposition leaders alike.

NDTV

 

[sweep_shot]

Didn't know about this dispute.

Why is Indian government not fixing this?

 

[JaDed]

The Marathis need to let go now, I do agree Belgaum a majority Marathi speaking area and a very peaceful place at that, would be good if this city/town is kept away from political pedigree of politicians.
I had planned to settle there back when i was in India.

Marathis got Mumbai which ideally should had been a union territory. You win some yo lose some.

 

[JaDed]

I always wonder why low scale corruption never is an issue in South Asia(or even many Asian countries), its always religion, caste, culture.

In western nations while those can be issues too but corruption is never a thing at low level creating peace for communities.

 

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Belagavi Not To Allow Sena MP To Enter District Amid State Border Row

The district administration has prohibited the entry of Shiv Sena Member of Parliament Dhairyasheel Mane to the Belagavi city to take part in an event organised by Madhyavarti Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti (MMES) on Monday.

The MMES has organised a protest at the Vaccine Depot Ground in Tilakwadi in the district headquarter town of Belagavi as the 10-day winter session of Karnataka Legislature starts here.

Dhairyasheel Mane, a Lok Sabha member from Hatkanangle constituency, had written to the district authorities to make arrangements for his visit.

In his letter to the police commissioner of Belagavi city, Mane said he should be provided a pilot car and escort along with Y category security.

But, the Deputy Commissioner of Belagavi district Nitesh K Patil issued a prohibitory order banning Mane's entry.

Patil said the MP would take part in the event organised by the MMES where it is likely that he may deliver inflammatory speeches, which would lead to linguistic conflict and create a law and order problem. This would eventually lead to damage to public properties.

"In order to maintain law and order and uphold peace, I, Nitesh K Patil, District Magistrate, Belagavi District exercising powers under section 144 of the CrPC, issue this order to initiate steps to prevent the entry of Maharashtra MP Dhairyasheel Mane from entering the border of Belagavi district," the order read.

Meanwhile, a MMES leader Suraj Kanbarkar told PTI that the police have given permission to hold the event at Vaccine Depot.

"However, we are not sure which leader from Maharashtra is likely to attend the event here though we have given invitation to all the important people," he said.

Amid the border row between Karnataka and Maharashtra, the MMES organised the event to protest the winter session of Karnataka legislature in Belagavi.

Maharashtra has been demanding the merger of Belagavi with it saying that the district has a substantial Marathi population.

The Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti which had been fighting for this cause for over five decades had been able to send its members to the Karnataka Assembly to raise their demand.

However, in the current Karnataka Assembly, the Samiti does not have any representative.

Karnataka has always maintained that the border dispute was settled by the Mahajan Committee and there was no question of letting go any piece of land to any other State.

The political parties of Maharashtra, according to the sources in ruling BJP, always supported the Samiti to carry on with activities.

NDTV

 

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Karnataka To Hold Assembly Session In District At Centre Of Border Row

Amid the raging border dispute with neighbouring Maharashtra and around five months to go for assembly elections in Karnataka, the winter session of the state legislature will begin at 'Suvarna Vidhana Soudha' in Belagavi on Monday.

This will be the last session of the incumbent BJP government in the northern district headquarters town bordering Maharashtra.

This session assumes importance for the Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai-led administration, as only the joint session and budget session will be left before elections are announced. The polls are likely to be held by April-May 2023.

The 10-day session till December 30 is likely to be stormy as both the ruling and opposition sides are appeared to attack and counter each other on a host of issues.

The opposition parties are likely to corner the government on issues like alleged corruption and scams in various departments, voter data theft scandal, the border dispute and its handling by the government, law and order situation with incidents of communal flare-up and cooker blast in Mangaluru, farmers' demands including an increase in fair and remunerative price (FRP) for sugarcane.

With elections around the corner, the opposition parties are also likely to target the government on the issue of governance, "unfulfilled" promises made in the manifesto ahead of 2018 polls, and infrastructure issues in several urban areas especially Bengaluru due to torrential rains and floods caused by them.

With the BJP government's decision to hike reservation for SCs from 15 to 17 per cent and STs from 3 to 7 per cent, yet to be ring-fenced under the Ninth Schedule of the Constitution, leaving it vulnerable as it exceeds the 50 per cent caps fixed by the Supreme Court, the opposition, especially the Congress, is likely to raise the issue.

The reservation-related demand by various communities like Panchamasalis and Vokkaligas is likely to be raised by members from both opposition and treasury bench sides; also, internal reservation issue among Scheduled Castes is also likely to come up for discussion.

The ruling BJP too is planning to counter the opposition especially the Congress, seeking to capitalise the statement by its leaders' "trivialising" the Mangaluru pressure cooker blast, and "anti-Hindu" remarks.

Karnataka PCC President D K Shivakumar has made a statement seemingly suggesting that the Mangaluru pressure cooker blast was "orchestrated" by the BJP government to divert attention from the voter data theft scandal, while its working president Satish Jarkiholi has recently made remarks on the origins of the word Hindu and its "dirty meaning".

The reported factionalism within the Congress, especially the game of one-upmanship between Mr Shivakumar and Leader of Opposition Siddaramaiah, is likely to be used by BJP to take a dig at the principal opposition party.

With the session taking place in the north Karnataka region, a separate discussion is likely on the issues here.

Speaker Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri has said six Bills are likely to be discussed during the session.

Of the six draft laws to be taken up for discussion and approval, four are new ones. Two Bills including the Kannada Comprehensive Development Bill were already tabled in the previous session in Bengaluru.

Besides, the session is being held amid the raging border dispute with the trigger being the possible hearing on the issue in the Supreme Court, on a suit filed by Maharashtra.

The row had intensified in the last couple of weeks, with vehicles from either side being targeted, leaders from both states weighing in, and pro-Kannada and Marathi activists being detained by police amid a tense atmosphere in Belagavi.

Maharashtra claims Belagavi and some nearby places belong to it.

Stepping in to defuse the border tensions, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on December 14 held a meeting with chief ministers of the two states and asked them to set up a six-member joint ministerial panel to address related issues and not make any claims till the Supreme Court pronounces its verdict on the dispute.

Belagavi, bordering Maharashtra, has been hosting legislature sessions once a year since 2006.

As many as nine Winter sessions have been held in Belagavi in 16 years. Seven of them were held inside the Suvarna Soudha and two outside.

Suvarna Vidhana Soudha, modelled on the Vidhana Soudha, the state secretariat in Bengaluru, was built as an assertion that Belagavi is an integral part of Karnataka.

Other than the session held once a year for about two weeks, the Suvarna Vidhana Soudha building remains mostly unutilised.

It has been a long-standing demand of the people of north Karnataka to shift some government offices to Suvarna Vidhana Soudha, aimed at addressing regional imbalance, and for the benefit of citizens of the regions, who otherwise have to travel to Bengaluru.

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Karnataka-Maharashtra Row: Belagavi Turns Fortress, 300 Stopped At Border

Amid simmering tension at the Karnataka-Maharashtra border where huge protests were planned today for the last winter session of the ** Bommai government in Karnataka, Nationalist Congress Party and Shiv Sena leaders were detained and taken into preventive custody. NCP's Hasan Mushrif, and Shiv Sena's Kolhapur district president Vijay Devane, were detained today while trying to enter Karnataka's Belagavi, the centre of the decades-old border dispute where the 10-day winter session of the Karnataka Assembly is being held. This will be the state's last winter session before it goes to polls next year.

More than 300 members of Shiv Sena, Congress, and NCP were stopped at the border and sent back by Karnataka, and some were detained by the Maharashtra police.

Activists of Madhyavarti Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti (MMES), an organisation that has been raising the issue for over five decades, have planned massive protests ahead of the winter session of the Karnataka Assembly.

Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole has blamed the dispute on the Centre, accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi of "dividing" India.

"The border issue is happening because of the central government. PM Modi wants to divide Maharashtra. Despite the meeting between both Chief Ministers and Home Minister Amit Shah, why are leaders not allowed to go there? This shows that the central government is behind this issue," he said.

The Chief Ministers of Karnataka and Maharashtra had agreed not to press their claims in the decades-long state border dispute till the Supreme Court takes a call on the matter, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said last week after a meeting with the two leaders.

However, Maharashtra Chief Minister CM Eknath Shinde today said the issue is of "Maharashtra's pride" and that the state has taken a strong stand on the issue.

"Home Minister himself informed the media about the issue. The Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti is protesting today, there should not be any politics on this issue. There are several other issues over which we can do politics," he said.

Mr Shinde said he has information from the police about who are the villagers who want to join Karnataka, and "who are behind them"

"We are with our people and will provide anything required. We even told ** Bommai that whatever you are tweeting isn't right, he said that that isn't his Twitter handle," Eknath Shinde said.

Maharashtra had been upset over the inclusion of Marathi-speaking areas -- including Belgavi, part of the erstwhile Bombay Presidency -- in Karnataka during the reorganisation of states on linguistic lines. It also laid claim to 814 Marathi-speaking villages which are currently part of Karnataka.

Karnataka maintains the demarcation is final and there can be no change.

First-time Maharashtra MP Dhairyasheel Sambhajirao Mane, who was appointed as the chief of the Karnataka-Maharashtra border dispute expert committee, was expected to visit Belagavi today, even though the district administration has barred his entry.

"If the arrival of Maharashtra MP into Karnataka threatens law and order, we will initiate action. No permission has been granted for him to enter Belagavi. He will be stopped at the border and sent back," Additional Director General of Police, Law & Order, Alok Kumar, had said.

Dhairyasheel Sambhajirao Mane was scheduled to take part in the event organised by the MMES, but the police said it is likely that he may deliver inflammatory speeches, which would lead to linguistic conflict and create a law and order problem, eventually leading to damage to public properties.

More than 61 organisations had sought permission to hold protests during the Assembly session, forcing a massive deployment of police on the ground.

More than 4,000 police personnel including six Superintendents of Police, 11 additional Superintendents, 43 deputy Superintendents, 95 police inspectors, and 241 police sub-inspectors have been deployed in Belagavi.

Over the last weeks, trucks from Maharashtra have been attacked in Karnataka and buses of the southern state have been defaced by workers of the Uddhav Thackeray faction of the Shiv Sena.

NDTV

 

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Karnataka Legislature To Pass Resolution On Border Row With Maharashtra

Both Houses of Karnataka legislature will be passing a resolution on the border dispute with Maharashtra. The legislature reiterated the State's stand that the issue is a settled one, and not an inch of land will be given to the neighbouring State.

During a debate on the border dispute in the legislative Assembly on Tuesday, Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai himself suggested passing a unanimous resolution in both Houses of the State legislature reiterating and asserting the stand.

"If everyone agrees, while giving the government's reply on the border issue debate, we will pass a resolution reiterating the State's stand in both Houses of legislature. Already we have passed several such resolutions, we will reiterate it," he said.

Members of all political parties including Leader of Opposition Siddaramaiah agreed.

Initiating the debate, Siddaramaiah said there is no question of any dispute, and the border issue is already settled with the Mahajan Commission report.

With him recently attending a meeting of Chief Ministers of Karnataka and Maharashtra, called by Union Home Minister Amit Shah recently, drawing some criticism from the Opposition Congress, Bommai said, "There is no ambiguity or confusion" and that he has reiterated the State's stand very clearly at the meeting, without any dilution.

"I'm the last person to do such a thing on matters concerning the interest of the State. I will not go back an inch from the State's stand, which is the same as the one taken by the governments that have ruled this State so far," he said.

Siddaramaiah had earlier said the Chief Minister should not have gone to a meeting called by the Union Home Minister, because Maharashtra wants to project that there is a border dispute, to keep the issue alive, and to use it politically.

Also, the Chief Minister should not have accepted the proposal for constituting a committee consisting of three Ministers each from both the States.

Reacting to this, Bommai said the meeting of Chief Ministers convened by the Union Home Minister was regarding law and order, and in a federal set-up "we had to attend the meeting, where our State's stand was clearly put forward."

"Home Minister in the meeting said the solution for this issue can be only through Constitutional and legal means as the case is before the Supreme Court, it cannot be settled on the streets, and peace should be maintained at all cost," he said, adding that the Ministerial committee from both sides is to maintain peace and to resolve smaller issues between the two States.

Senior Congress MLA H K Patil, too, raising objections to Bommai attending a meeting of Chief Ministers called by Shah, said the maintainability of Maharashtra's petition on the border dispute is pending before the Supreme Court. In such a situation, agreeing to forming a three- member committee from both sides raises a question.

"...is the situation so grave, has the law and order situation deteriorated in Belagavi, is our (Karnataka) Home Minister incapable of handling the situation," he asked.

To this the CM retorted, "don't over read things." "On border issue, we have always spoken with one voice. As a Chief Minister, as someone from this region, I'm speaking with responsibility and I'm speaking truth...we have taken the case very seriously, there is no dilution in our stand either before the Prime Minister or Union Home Minister or the Supreme Court, it is very clear," he said.

Patil also sought a suo moto statement by the Chief Minister on the border dispute and the stand taken by the State at the meeting called by the Union Home Minister with Maharashtra Chief Minister.

Siddaramaiah, earlier initiating the debate on the border dispute, accused Maharashtra of repeatedly raking up the issue, which is a non-issue, for the sake of politics, for a long time now with a malafide intention. "It looks as though they have forgotten that they are living in a federal set-up."

Leaders across the party line also criticised the move by certain elements and political leaders and activists in Maharashtra wanting to enter the State unlawfully or by force, as Bommai expressed his government's commitment to protect the interest of people living in the border areas and Kannadigas living on the other side of the border.

The row had intensified in the last couple of weeks, with vehicles from either side being targeted, leaders from both the States weighing in, and pro-Kannada and Marathi activists being detained by police amid a tense atmosphere in Belagavi.

The border issue dates back to 1957 after the reorganisation of States on linguistic lines. Maharashtra laid claim to Belagavi, which was part of the erstwhile Bombay Presidency, as it has a sizeable Marathi-speaking population. It also laid claim to over 800 Marathi-speaking villages which are currently part of Karnataka.

Karnataka maintains the demarcation done on linguistic lines as per the States Reorganisation Act and the 1967 Mahajan Commission Report as final.

And, as an assertion that Belagavi is an integral part of the State, Karnataka has built the Suvarna Vidhana Soudha, modelled on the Vidhana Soudha, the seat of legislature in Bengaluru, and a legislature session is held here annually.

NDTV

 

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Maharashtra Minister's Water Supply Warning To Karnataka Over Border Row

Amid the simmering border dispute, Maharashtra minister Shambhuraj Desai on Wednesday said if Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai does not stop making irresponsible statements, Maharashtra will have to rethink about water supply from its dams to the neighbouring state.

The Maharashtra government last month appointed cabinet members Chandrakant Patil and Shambhuraj Desai as nodal ministers to coordinate with the legal team regarding a court case on the state's border dispute with Karnataka.

Addressing reporters in the Vidhan Bhavan complex in Nagpur, Mr Desai slammed Mr Bommai over the Karnataka government's stand that not an inch of land will be given to Maharashtra.

The Karnataka legislature has reiterated the state's stand that the border issue is a settled one, and not an inch of land will be given to the neighbouring state.

During a debate on the border dispute in the Karnataka Legislative Assembly on Tuesday, Chief Minister Mr Bommai himself suggested passing a unanimous resolution in both Houses of the state legislature reiterating and asserting the stand.

Mr Desai said he condemns such comments, which do not suit Bommai as he holds a constitutional post.

When the case is sub-judice, a chief minister using such "threatening language" is not good and he should stop it, he said.

"Even Maharashtra can reply in the same language and he should not provoke us," Mr Desai said.

Maharashtra is maintaining patience and the Karnataka Chief Minister should keep in mind that the southern state is very much dependent on water supply from the Koyna and Krishna dams (in Maharashtra) during the dry season of March and April, he said.

NDTV

 

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"Will Enter Karnataka Like China...": Team Uddhav Leader Amid Border Row

Amid simmering tension between Karnataka and Maharashtra over the border issue, Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) leader Sanjay Raut on Wednesday sparked a fresh controversy by saying, "We will enter Karnataka like China has entered the country."

The senior leader of the party said that he did not need anyone's "permission" regarding the issue.

"Like China has entered, we will enter (Karnataka). We don't need anyone's permission. We want to solve it through a discussion but Karnataka CM is igniting a fire. There is a weak government in Maharashtra and is not taking any stand on it," Sanjay Raut said.

The leader's statement has come at a time of heightened tension between Maharashtra and Karnataka over a decades-old border conflict. The issue has also reached the Supreme Court.

Eknath Shinde's government is facing criticism over the issue. The Opposition has also raised the issue in the ongoing winter session of the Maharashtra Assembly.

Leader of Opposition Ajit Pawar raised the issue of the border dispute earlier in the Assembly and said, "A Lok Sabha member from Maharashtra has been stopped from entering Belgaum. In a meeting with Home Minister Amit Shah, it was decided that no one would be stopped from going there, then how can the collector there take such a decision?"

Responding to the issue raised by Mr Pawar, Chief Minister Shinde said, "For the first time, the Home Minister of the country mediated the border dispute, he has taken this issue seriously, we have presented the side of the border residents to him, Amit Shah has had put forth his point in front of the border dispute, now there should be no politics on the border dispute, we should stand together with the border residents."

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis echoed with Chief Minister Shinde's remarks and said that the government will look into the matter.

Tension prevailed in the border areas of Belagavi on the Maharashtra Karnataka border after members of the Maharastra Ekikaran Samiti (MES) and Nationalist Congress Party staged a protest on Monday demanding they be allowed into Belagavi.

Belagavi Police denied permission to MES to conduct its Maha Melava at the Vaccine Depot ground in Tilakwadi and clamped prohibited orders in Tilakwadi Police Station jurisdiction.

Section 144 has been imposed in the area and heavy security was deployed at the site of the MES convention which was scheduled to take place on the first day of the Winter Session of the Karnataka Assembly today.

The border dispute between Maharashtra and Karnataka goes back to the implementation of the State Reorganization Act, of 1956. The then Maharashtra government had demanded the readjustment of its border with Karnataka.

Following this, a four-member committee was formed by both states. The Maharashtra government had expressed willingness to transfer 260 predominantly Kannada-speaking villages, but the proposal was turned down by Karnataka.

Both governments later approached the Supreme Court on the matter.

NDTV

 

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Karnataka Assembly Passes Resolution Over Border Row With Maharashtra

Karnataka Legislative Assembly on Thursday unanimously passed a resolution on the border row with Maharashtra, resolving to protect the State's interests.

The unanimous resolution condemned the border dispute "created" by Maharashtra.

The resolution moved by Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai was adopted by a voice-vote.

"There is no compromise on the matters relating to Karnataka's land, water, language and Kannadiga's interest. The feelings of Karnataka's people and members (of assembly) is one of this subject, and if it is affected, we are all committed to unitedly take constitutional and legal measures to protect the interest of the state.

Condemning border disputes created by Maharashtra people unnecessarily, this house unanimously passes a resolution that it is committed to protect the interest of the state," the resolution moved by Mr Bommai read.

Earlier while replying to the debate on the border issue in the House, the CM said that it is the will of the people of Karnataka, not to let go even an inch of the State's land.

"We will do everything to protect it, we will take all the measures required in this direction," he said.

Condemning Maharashtra's political leaders' "conduct" on the border issue, Mr Bommai said, "if they continue like this, we will take legal action." He also called Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut an "agent of China" and "traitor", hitting back at his statement that -they will enter Karnataka the way China has "invaded" Indian territory.

NDTV