The Karnataka-Maharashtra border dispute is far from over. On Wednesday, Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde said the state will not give up even an inch of land of 865 Marathi speaking villages.
“Karnataka should not challenge us, we will not give up an inch of the land of 865 villages including Belgaum, Nipani, Karwar, Bidar, Bhalki,” Shinde said on the floor of Maharashtra Assembly .
The chief minister also declared that his government will do everything to ensure that Marathi-speaking people are not treated unfairly, ANI reported.
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“We will do whatever we want in a legal way, we will request the Supreme Court & Central Government,” he added.
The Maharashtra government passed a resolution on Tuesday to “legally pursue” the incorporation of 865 Marathi-speaking villages in Karnataka into their state.
Shinde introduced the resolution in both Houses of the Maharashtra legislature, claiming that the Karnataka legislature had passed a resolution on the issue on purpose to inflame the border dispute.
Last week, Karnataka passed a resolution pledging to protect the state’s interests and refuse to cede even an inch of land to its neighbour.
While welcoming the resolution, former chief minister and Shiv Sena leader Uddhav Thackeray said the disputed area should be declared a Union Territory until the Supreme Court rules on the issue.
Before the resolution was passed, deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis attacked Uddhav Thackeray, claiming that the Sena leader did nothing as chief minister for 2.5 years and that the border dispute began before the current government came to power.
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Maharashtra stakes claim on Belagavi (currently under Karnataka), a part of the former Bombay Presidency, because it has a sizable Marathi-speaking population. It also claimed over 800 Marathi-speaking villages that are now part of Karnataka.
Karnataka considers the linguistic demarcation established by the States Reorganisation Act and the Mahajan Commission Report of 1967 to be final.
(With agency inputs)
