Karnataka Mulling Taking Up Cause Of Kannada-Speaking Areas In Maharashtra: Basavaraj Bommai In Response To Ajit Pawar

“The government's stand is very clear on the border issue. There is no question of ceding even an inch of our land,“ said Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai as he responded to the border issue question raised recently on the occassion of Maharashtra’s foundation day, 1 May.

Maharashtra‘s Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar had reignited the border dispute as he addressed a gathering in Pune, Sunday, saying they would continue to support the fight of the Marathi-speaking people residing in the border districts of Karnataka for inclusion with Maharashtra.

"While we are celebrating 62 years of formation of Maharashtra, we regret that the Marathi-speaking villages in Bidar, Bhalki, Belgaum, Karwar, Nippani and other places in Karnataka could not be merged with Maharashtra. The citizens of Maharashtra and its government are with their fight to be part of Maharashtra. I assure that we would keep supporting their fight till these villages become part of Maharashtra," Pawar said, as reported by Mid Day.

In response to this Bommai, today, accused the politicians in the neighbouring state of raking up the ‘border and language issue’ to take attention away from the political crisis in the state.

“There is a political crisis in Maharashtra, it is there now, their entire government is on the rock bottom, so they create a language bogey and raise the border issue. To survive politically they do this," Bommai said, as reported.

"There are many Kannada-speaking areas in Maharashtra. The state government is mulling to take up their cause too. It is very mean on part of the Maharashtra politicians to raise the border and language issues for their political survival," Bommai said urging leaders in Maharashntra to give up this attitude.

Former CM H D Kumaraswamy had tweeted out a stern response on Sunday itself slamming Pawar for ‘his arrogance‘ saying ‘he has let his tongue wagging, this is reprehensible.’

Kumaraswamy also said that by raking up the border dispute issue, Pawar is not only misguiding the people speaking two languages but also called it a political ploy to keep the border areas under-developed.

Calling this trend a threat to the nation’s unity and federal system, Kumaraswamy sought the Centre’s intervention to ‘ensure that those with confrontationist attitude’ are controlled.

Belagavi in Karnataka has a sizeable Marathi-speaking population and has been at the heart of a five-decade-old border row between Karnataka and Maharashtra.

About 500 km northwest of Bengaluru, it was part of the erstwhile Bombay Presidency during the British rule but was given to Mysore state during the reorganisation of the States on linguistic grounds in 1956.

When Maharashtra made claim to the border district on the basis that there were more Marathi-speaking people living in Belagavi and its villages, which are part of Karnataka, the Central government constituted the Mahajan Commission in 1967 to settle the inter-state boundary dispute.

The Commission in its report in 1967 recommended the transfer of 264 villages into Maharashtra while Belgaum and 247 villages remain with Karnataka. While Maharashtra rejected it, Karnataka had welcomed the report. Maharashtra filed a petition in the Supreme Court challenging the Mahajan report and the case is still pending in the apex court.