Fadnavis, Shinde reaffirm support to Marathi-speaking people in Karnataka's border areas

Mumba: Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and his deputy Eknath Shinde on Monday asserted the Mahayuti government was committed to supporting Marathi-speaking residents of border areas in and around Karnataka’s Belagavi and resolving the decades-long row.

The Maharashtra-Karnataka boundary dispute flared up once again after the Congress government in the neighbouring state disallowed a gathering organised by an outfit demanding merger of Marathi-speaking areas, including Belagavi, with the western state.

Fadnavis and Shinde made separate statements in the legislative council pledging support to Marathi-speaking population in Karnataka.

“The Maharashtra government and legislature are united in supporting Marathi-speaking residents in the border areas. The fight for Belagavi, Karwar, Nipani, and a unified Maharashtra will continue. We will ensure justice,” Fadnavis said.

In his statement, Shinde said, “The Karnataka government opposed a Marathi gathering, detained leaders of the Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti (MES), and imposed section 144 in Belagavi. Over a hundred Marathi activists have been detained. Maharashtra stands with our people, and we are ready to strengthen our legal efforts to resolve this (border) issue.” Both the leaders spoke on the last day of the three-day special session of the state legislature.

Leader of Opposition Ambadas Danve of the Shiv Sena (UBT) said Maharashtra should pass a resolution asking the central government to declare Belagavi (earlier Belgaum) and other Marathi-speaking areas in Karnataka a Union Territory.

Deputy Chairperson of Legislative Council Dr Neelam Gorhe said she would write to the Karnataka Council, requesting them to reinstate Hindutva ideologue Veer Savarkar’s portrait in Suvarna Vidhan Soudha in Belagavi.

Meanwhile, speaking to reporters in the Vidhan Bhavan premises in south Mumbai, Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole accused the BJP of hypocrisy in handling the border dispute with Karnataka.

“When the BJP was in power in Karnataka, atrocities were committed on Marathi speakers in Belagavi, but the BJP remained silent. Now they are speaking up, but it is just political posturing. Their government at the Centre should take concrete decisions (on border row),” he said.

Earlier in the day, the Karnataka police detained leaders and activists of MES who were opposing the winter session of the state legislature being held at Suvarna Vidhan Soudha in Belagavi.

The Samiti has been fighting for inclusion of Belagavi and Marathi-speaking villages of the border region with Maharashtra.

The dispute dates back to the 1960s after the reorganisation of states on linguistic lines. Maharashtra laid claim on Belagavi, which was part of the Bombay Presidency at the time of independence, on linguistic grounds.

Belagavi bordering Maharashtra has a significant population of Marathi-speaking people, and has for decades been a bone of contention between the two states.

The southern state, which has sought to make Belagavi a second power centre after capital Bengaluru, has repeatedly maintained the Mahajan Commission report on the border issue is final, and, “there is no question of letting go even an inch of Karnataka’s border”.

The border dispute is pending in the Supreme Court.