Karnataka CM Bommai Asks Maharashtra Ministers Not To Visit Karnataka Given Border Dispute
Belgaum, 3rd December 2022: Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai has objected to the visit of Maharashtra ministers to Belagavi (Belgaum). He asked not to visit Belagavi given the current situation between the two states on the border. Bommai said that the border dispute could escalate further with this visit. The chief secretary, on behalf of the CM, said, “Given the current situation between the two states regarding the border dispute, it is not appropriate for ministers from Maharashtra to visit Belagavi.”
Reacting to reports of Maharashtra ministers planning to visit Belagavi, the Karnataka CM said their visit is not appropriate when the situation is like this between the two states.
Maharashtra ministers Chandrakant Patil and Shambhuraj Desai are travelling to Karnataka’s Belagavi on December 6 to discuss the Karnataka-Maharashtra border dispute. Chandrakant Patil and Shambhuraj Desai have been appointed as coordinating ministers for the Karnataka-Maharashtra border issue. However, earlier this meeting was to be held on December 3.
Their visit has been postponed at the request of the Belagavi Ambedkar Sangathan, and both will reach Belagavi on December 6, the death anniversary of Dr BR Ambedkar. Belgaum or Belagavi is currently a part of Karnataka but is claimed by Maharashtra as its own. Following the escalation of the Karnataka-Maharashtra border dispute, several untoward incidents took place in Belagavi. Recently pro-Kannada organizations blocked the road on the highway in Belagavi. They set tires on fire and raised slogans against Maharashtra.
The long-running Karnataka-Maharashtra border dispute began in 1953, when the Maharashtra government objected to the inclusion of 865 villages, including Belagavi, in Karnataka. The villages are spread across Belagavi and the North-Western and North-Eastern regions of Karnataka, all bordering Maharashtra. After the enactment of the States Reorganization Act of 1956, the Government of Maharashtra sought readjustment of its boundary with Karnataka. After this, a four-member committee was formed from both states. The Maharashtra government had expressed its desire to transfer 260 predominantly Kannada-speaking villages, but this was turned down by Karnataka. Now, both the governments of Karnataka and Maharashtra have approached the Supreme Court to expedite the matter and the matter is still pending.
