Border row: Peace prevails in Belagavi amid tight security

Peace prevailed in the city and other parts of this district, a day after pro-Kannada organisations held a protest on the border row that affected normal life.

The protests were held against the proposed visit of two Maharashtra ministers on Tuesday here amid the ongoing border dispute. Shambhuraj Desai and Chandrakant Patil, who were appointed by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde to coordinate with the legal team fighting the border row pertaining to Belagavi, were planning to visit to city on Tuesday to attend a programme organised a pro-Maharashtra organisation.

However, due to protests by the pro-Kannada activists, the ministers postponed their visit.

”There’s absolute peace here. No protests or demonstrations are taking place,” a police officer told PTI.

However, as a precautionary measure, security is still in place to prevent protests, he added.

Meanwhile, reports came in that the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena activists defaced the Ultra Delux Rajahamsa bus of KSRTC, which was on the way from Pune to Belagavi, at Sindhudurg in Maharashtra.

Maharashtra has been demanding the merger of Belagavi with it on the ground that there are substantial number of Marathi speaking population in the district.

However, the Karnataka government has been rejecting the claims.