Fadnavis speaks to Bommai after stone pelting on Maha vehicles entering Karnataka

A video surfaced on social media showing some people throwing stones at vehicles entering Karnataka from Maharashtra, prompting Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to take up the matter with Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Tuesday and extract an assurance on protection of vehicles.

Amid a raging border row between the two states, the video showed some people throwing stones at vehicles entering Karnataka from the Maharashtra side near a toll booth at Hirebaugwadi in Belagavi district of the adjoining state.

Sources close to the Maharashtra Deputy CM said, “Fadnavis made a phone call to Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai and expressed his disappointment over the Hirebaugwadi incident.” “The Karnataka Chief Minister assured Fadnavis of strong action against the perpetrators. He also assured Fadnavis that vehicles entering Karnataka from Maharashtra will be given proper protection,” the sources said. The decades-old Karnataka-Maharashtra border row has flared up in the last few days, leading to a war of words between politicians of the two states. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) rules Karnataka and it is also a part of the ruling coalition in Maharashtra.

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 sizable Marathi-speaking population. It also laid claim to 814 Marathi-speaking villages which are currently part of the southern state.

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