Belgaum border dispute: Karnataka Dy CM hits back at Maharashtra CM, seeks UT status to Mumbai

Bengaluru, January 28: After getting irked by Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray's demands to make Belagavi as UT till SC settles, Karnataka Deputy CM Laxman Savadi lashed out at him saying, " Belgaum is ours. We now demand that Mumbai should be made a part of Karnataka." Moreover, he urged the Centre to declare Mumbai as a Union Territory until then.

 

 

"We condemn the Maharashtra CM's statement. The Mahajan report is final. We are confident that things will be in our favor in the Supreme Court too. The demand of the people of our region is that we have been part of Mumbai-Karnataka (region), so we too have our right on Mumbai," Savadi said.

 

"Until it (Mumbai) is made part of Karnataka, I urge the central government to make it a union territory," the DCM said in response to a question on repeated raking up of the border issue. "With us now demanding Mumbai, things may get fine," he added.

 

Apart from him, Ramesh Jarkiholi, Minister-in-charge of Belagavi district also slammed Maharastra CM Saying, Thackeray had raked up the border issue to divert public attention from the 'failures' of his government. He said "It is Shiv Sena’s agenda to provoke and mislead people. After failing on all fronts, Thackeray and Sena are raising the issue to gain people’s sympathy.’’

 

Minister for Women and Child Development Shashikala Jolle, who also hails from the Belagavi district, said Thackeray has no right to speak about Belagavi. Giving direct warning, she said, "We are not sitting quietly here. We are people of Karnatak... the soil of Kannada has nurtured us…if the issue is raked up repeatedly, we will give a befitting reply."

 

While speaking at the launch of a controversial Marathi book on the ongoing conflict between the two States over the border area, Maharastra CM said, "The dispute has been going on for many years. At least till the time, the matter is decided in the Supreme Court, why can’t it be made a union territory? Our government should be telling this in court. We don’t want the Karnataka government meddling in the day-to-day affairs there.” He added that he won’t let Karnataka’s “Masti” continue.

 

 

The new book, ‘Maharashtra-Karnataka Seemavad: Sangharsh Aani Sankalp’ (Maharashtra-Karnataka boundary dispute: struggle and pledge), gives an account of the boundary dispute between the two states. Apart from Thackeray, Maharashtra Deputy CM Ajit Pawar also commented on the issue and said, "This matter is in the Supreme Court and this is our last option. When we have one option left then we have to prepare for it very well, and we have to win it. If this is not done now, then I don`t think it will happen anytime."

 

 

The issue of the disputed border area has been pending in the Supreme Court for several years. Belagavi, Karwar, and Nipani are a part of Karnataka and have Marathi-speaking people. Right from the beginning, Maharashtra has asserted its claim over these districts while the Karnataka government has opposed the assertion.