Deputy CM Ajit Pawar brings up issue of border row with Karnataka amid Maharashtra Day

|HT|

Maharashtra deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar on Sunday brought up the issue of border row with Karnataka as the state marks the day of formation. “On this Maharashtra Day, we still regret that several Marathi-speaking villages at the state border including Belgaum, Nipai and Karwar couldn't be part of the state yet. I assure you we'll keep supporting the fight by the people of these villages to become a part of Maharashtra,” the 62-year-old leader said. The state claims certain areas, including Belgaum, Karwar and Nippan that are a part of Karnataka, saying that a majority of the population here speaks Marathi. Karnataka, however, has made counterclaims saying the areas are an integral part of the state. The dispute is said to have its originin the States Reorganisation Act of 1956.

The leaders of the two states have often sparred over the matter. In December, strict curbs were put in place in Belgavi, earlier known as Belgaum, after violence - linked to the controversy - was reported.

The Shiv Sena, one of the three ruling coalition partners in Maharashtra, has demanded in the past that the border district should be declared a union territory by the centre, alleging that the Marathi-speaking population has faced atrocities. "If the atrocities are not going to stop, then the Centre should declare Belgaum as a Union Territory," an article in the party’s mouthpiece, Saamana, said last year. Meanwhile, as Maharashtra celebrates its formations, six decades after the the Bombay Reorganisation Act came into force, tensions are expected as MNS chief Raj Thackeray plans to hold a gathering in Aurangabad. He has stirred controversy with his comment on the use of loudspeakers at mosques.

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