The long-pending and decades-old Karnataka-Maharashtra border row has reared its ugly head again as a war of words ensues between the two BJP-led state governments.
At the centre of the row is Belagavi — or Belgaum as it was earlier known.
Now a district of Karnataka, Belagavi in British India, was part of the Bombay Presidency that included Maharashtra, parts of Gujarat and North Karnataka.
However, when India’s states were drawn up on linguistic lines under the State Reorganisation Act in 1956 the district was merged into Karnataka, despite having a large Marathi-speaking population.
Maharashtra subsequently invoked 21(2)(b) of the State Reorganisation Act and submitted a memorandum to the central government objecting to Marathi-speaking areas going to Karnataka. The western state also claimed over 7,000 square kilometres, including 814 villages and three towns — Belgaum, Nippani and Karwar. As these areas are predominantly Marathi-speaking, Maharashtra sought them to be integrated with the state. The Maharashtra Ekikarana Samithi (MES), set up for the purpose of demanding the integration of the district into the state of Maharashtra, stood up for the issue.
To look into the row, the central government in 1966 set up the Mahajan Commission. The Commission made a recommendation to transfer 264 villages to Maharashtra, while Belagavi and 247 villages were to remain in Karnataka. While Karnataka welcomed the Mahajan report, Maharashtra rejected it.
Maharashtra subsequently approached the Supreme Court in 2004 to look into the matter. The matter was pending until 2014 when the top court ordered both Maharasthra and Karnataka to submit documentary evidence to back their stand.
Cut to the present day, the dispute is in the headlines again.
On November 21, 2022 the Eknath Shinde-government in Maharashtra announced their extension of social schemes such as benefits of the chief minister relief funds, health insurance and pension to the bereaved families of people who died fighting in the border dispute region.
It was also announced that a high-level delegation from Maharashtra would meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah soon to discuss the issue. Maharashtra appointed ministers Chandrakant Patil and Shambhuraj Desai to coordinate with the legal team regarding the Supreme Court case on the border dispute.
The state government also appointed senior advocate Vaidyanathan to represent Maharashtra in the case.
“We have concentrated our focus on solving the issue. If required, the number of lawyers would be increased," said Shinde.
Meanwhile, Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said that his government was ready to challenge the dispute in the apex court. He announced that the southern state had deployed a team of lawyers, including Mukul Rohatgi and Shyam Diwan, to fight its case.
Bommai claimed that panchayats in Jat taluka of Maharashtra's Sangli district had passed the resolution to merge with Karnataka.
Bommai further stated that the BJP government in Karnataka was ready to provide special grants to Kannada medium schools in Maharashtra. In addition, he said that his government had decided to provide pensions to Kannadigas in neighbouring states, who fought for the unification of the state.
On November 23, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, in a retort, said that no village in Maharashtra had sought a merger with Karnataka recently and that there was no question of any border village "going anywhere."
Hitting back at Fadnavis, Bommai said: "[Fadnavis'] dream will never come true. Our government is committed to protecting our state's land, water and borders.”
He added that there was no question of giving up any space in the border districts of Karnataka. "Our demand is that the Kannada speaking areas of Maharashtra like Solapur and Akkalkot should join Karnataka."
Bommai maintained that the Mahajan report is final. "There is no question of letting go even an inch of Karnataka's border."
"Shinde has said in the media that they are looking at resolving the issue through mutual discussion. But, as they have gone to the Supreme Court, we are prepared to fight it out because we are on legally strong ground," he said.
Bommai has also announced an all-party meet to be convened next week to discuss in detail "the Maharashtra government's intentions to resolve the border row amicably through talks, and other important issues."
(With agency inputs)