The Karnataka Assembly is likely to pass a resolution reiterating its current stand on the Belagavi border. The arrival comes days after Union Home Minister Amit Shah met Chief Ministers Basavaraj Bommai and Eknath Shinde in a bid to defuse tensions over the border dispute between Maharashtra and Karnataka.
During the discussion on the border dispute in the winter session on Tuesday, Bommai stated that Karnataka’s border interests will be protected at all costs. Reiterating the party’s position, the resolution agreed upon in both chambers of the state legislature will be approved. Following this, members of all political parties in the state, including Leader of Opposition Siddaramaiah, agreed to CM Bommai’s suggestion.
Earlier, tensions over the Maharashtra-Karnataka border dispute escalated following violent demonstrations by the Kannada Rakshana Vedike (KRV) against Maharashtra’s claims over Belagavi and other areas. A pro-Maharashtra outfit staged protests in Karnataka’s Belgavi on Monday, December 19. Several people were also arrested.
Karnataka-Maharashtra border row
It is a long-standing dispute between Maharashtra and Karnataka over the status of predominantly Marathi-speaking regions like Belagavi. The row over the dispute intensified on November 22 when Karanataka CM Bommai confirmed that his government was seriously considering the merger of Maharashtra’s Sangli district with Karnataka, in view of a resolution passed by some villages in the Jat taluka.
After Bommai’s statement, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said that no village in his state will be handed over to Karnataka. In response to the counterattack, Bommai termed Fadnavis’s statement as “provocative” and claimed the Kannada-speaking regions of Maharashtra.