Prime Minister BS Yediyurappa condemned the comments by Maharashtra’s Senior Deputy Minister Ajit Pawar.
Bangalore:
Remarks by Maharashtra’s Chief Deputy Minister Ajit Pawar on Tuesday marking the anniversary of the death of Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray have sparked a new war of words with the leaders of neighboring Karnataka. The two states have been at odds for decades in areas along their border in districts like Belagavi, Karwar and Nipani.
In paying tribute to the late Maratha leader, Mr. Pawar of the Nationalist Congress Party evoked Mr. Thackeray’s “dream” to “incorporate Belgaum (Belagavi), Karwar and Nipani”, areas in Karnataka with a sizeable Marathi-speaking population, in Maharashtra. “Let us resolve to fulfill Balasaheb’s dream,” he said in his tribute, according to a PTI report.
Karnataka’s chief minister, BS Yediyurappa, was quick to criticize Pawar’s comments.
“I condemn the comments made by Deputy CM of Maharashtra Ajit Pawar. The world knows that the decisions in the report of the Mahajan Commission were final … Fanning the flames at a time like this is wrong,” Yediyurappa told reporters today before a cabinet meeting.
Earlier today, the opposition leader in Karnataka, Siddaramaiah, also appeared to have joined in with a series of tweets in both Kannada and English, mainly directed at the chief minister on the state’s Marathi-speaking population.
I strongly condemn any decision that only aims to obtain political gain. There is a dispute between Kannadigas and Marathis for a long time and with the announcement of the Marathi development authority, @CMofKarnataka he is instigating Kannadigas and disturbing the peace.
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– Siddaramaiah (@siddaramaiah) November 18, 2020
Siddaramaiah’s reference was to the many schemes implemented by the Yediyurappa government for the benefit of Marathi speakers in the Karnataka border areas, something the former chief minister seems to object to.
Hours earlier, Karnataka’s Chief Deputy Minister, Laxman Savadi, had also rejected any territorial claims from Maharashtra.
“We have faith in the Mahajan report that says that Belagavi is part of Karnataka. We condemn what Ajit Pawar says. We will definitely write a letter about this,” Savadi said today.
Both the Karnataka Chief Minister and his deputy referred to the one-man commission formed in 1966 under Meher Chand Mahajan, a former Supreme Court judge, to investigate the dispute between the two states.
In its report presented to Parliament in 1972, the Mahajan Commission rejected Maharashtra’s claim to Belgaum (now Belagavi), while recommending the transfer of some 250-260 villages each between the two states. While Karnataka agreed to comply with the report, Maharashtra refused.
Hence, the border line has grown worse over the decades.
Karnataka’s legislature is now sometimes held in Belagavi, near the Maharashtra border. This winter session, however, will be held in Bengaluru’s Vidhana Soudha, the prime minister said.
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