NCP leader Ajit Pawar brought up the Maharashtra-Karnataka border dispute on Wednesday, and deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis declared that his administration was “dedicated to acquiring” Marathi-speaking villages near the border. As a result, the matter is making headlines once more. Due to the states’ reorganisation in the 1950s, the border dispute between the two states has existed for many years.
Ajit Pawar, the leader of the opposition in Maharashtra, asked the chief minister and deputy chief minister for clarification on Wednesday in response to Karnataka CM Basavraj Bommai’s assertions that villages in Sangli’s Jat tehsil were a part of Karnataka.
Maharashtra and Karnataka both have the BJP in power.
In response, Fadnavis said in a media interview in Nagpur, “The Jat resolution discussed was passed in 2012. It’s an outdated idea. Karnataka has not submitted any fresh proposals to us.
Fadnavis stated, “We will fight for our viewpoint within the legal framework in the Supreme Court,” after declaring that Maharashtra’s position over its claims to Carvar, Nippani, and Belagavi was non-negotiable. Earlier, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde had made pension promises to independence heroes from Belgavi and other regions that Maharashtra claimed.
In response, Bommai Tuesday promised pensions for Kannadigas who battled for the unity of the state as well as special subsidies for Kannda-medium institutions in Maharashtra.
Karnataka and Maharashtra were both created in 1960. But ever since it was founded, Maharashtra has argued that 865 bordering villages, including Carvar, Nippani, and Belgavi (formerly Belgaum), should be incorporated into the state. Karnataka, for its side, has claimed ownership of 260 Kannada-speaking villages near the Maharashtra boundary.
The modern Karnataka districts of Vijayapura, Belagavi, Dharwad, and Uttara Kannada were were part of the multilingual Bombay Presidency. The Belgaum municipality asked that the district, which had a population that spoke Marathi as their primary language, be included in the projected Maharashtra state in 1948.
The States Reorganisation Act of 1956, however, transferred control of Belgaum and 10 Bombay State talukas to the then-Mysore State.
The Reorganisation of States Commission includes Mysore’s talukas with more than 50% of the population speaking Kannada when drawing borders. However, the decision’s critics have argued that in such locations in 1956, Marathi speakers dominated Kannada speakers.
In order to examine into the border dispute, the Indian government established the Mahajan Commission in October 1966. The Commission, headed by the former Chief Justice of India Mehr Chand Mahajan, proposed in its report, which was turned in in August 1967, that 264 villages be transferred to Maharashtra while Belgaum and 247 villages be kept in Karnataka.
The report was rejected by Maharashtra because it was unreasonable and prejudiced. Karnataka made requests, but the Centre never followed through.
Under Article 131(b) of the Constitution, the Maharashtra government petitioned the Supreme Court in 2004 to resolve the border dispute. The apex court is now hearing the case.
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