Belgaum border issue close to my heart, says CM Thackeray

Speaking about the border issue with regards to the Karnataka government taking one step at a time, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has stated, “Border fighting is a subject close to my heart. From my grandfather Prabodhankar Thackeray to the Hindu heart emperor Balasaheb Thackeray, I have inherited the fat of border war. Our relationship and debt bond with this fight is of two generations,”

According to sources, the accreditation magazine issued by the Directorate General of Information and Public Relations has been reportedly approved for the first time by two women editors of Marathi newspapers in the border areas. The leaflets were distributed by CM Thackeray to Kranti Suhas Huddar, editor of Dainik Varta in Belgaum district and Babita Rajendra Powar, editor of Dainik Swatantra Pragati.

Further speaking about the border issue, Thackeray added, “The manner in which the Karnataka government is taking one step at a time in the border area is in contempt of court. The Government of Maharashtra will take further steps in the same manner. Let's unite all parties, all leaders for this. We will try to spread the outcry of border residents in every district of the state,”

The border dispute all began when the erstwhile Bombay Presidency had present-day Karnataka districts of Vijayapura, Belagavi, Dharwad and Uttara-Kannada. In 1948, the Belgaum municipality requested that the district be incorporated into the proposed Maharashtra state. However, with the States Reorganisation Act of 1956, Belgaum and 10 talukas of Bombay State became a part of the then Mysore State. This happened because states were divided on the basis of linguistic and administrative lines.

In recent developments, the state government has continued to demand 814 villages from Karnataka on the basis of the theory of village being the unit of calculation, contiguity and enumerating linguistic population in each village. Then in 2004, the Maharashtra government moved the Supreme Court seeking resolution of the border dispute under Article 131(b) of the Constitution. However, the case is still pending in the apex court.