Mumbai mayor writes to PM Modi; urges him to merge 865 K'taka villages with Maharashtra

Mumbai: Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) Mayor Kishori Pednekar has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging him to merge 865 border villages of Karnataka, with Maharashtra.

She said that in 1956 when state boundaries were finalized based on languages, these villages were made part of Karnataka but a majority of them still speak Marathi.

Maharashtra has been fighting for the merger of 865 Marathi-speaking villages of Karnataka with Maharashtra. It is said that there are about 40 lakh people in these villages whose mother tongue is Marathi. The areas include Belgaum, Karwar, Nipani, Supa, Halyal, Khanapur, Joida, Ramnagar, Aurad, Bhalki, Basavkalyan, and Humnabad.

Pednekar claims that the people of these villages are facing injustice for several years and are fighting against the state.

She urged the Prime Minister to include these 40 lakh people in Maharashtra on the occasion of Revolution Day (August 9).