Mumbai:Former Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray Tuesday said that the state government should approach the Supreme Court to declare Belagavi as a Union Territory till the border dispute is resolved between the two neighboring states. This was after the Shiv Sena (UBT) leader put forth his demand in the state Assembly on Monday.
Uddhav argued that though the apex court had decided against declaring the disputed border area as Union Territory the situation in not the same there anymore. "The Shinde-Fadnavis government said that the Supreme Court in 2008 said that the disputed area cannot be declared a Union Territory. However the situation is not the same now because the Karnataka government is not abiding by its terms. Instead, they are conducting their Assembly session there and have even renamed the place as Belagavi," he argued.
"We supported today's resolution. We will support whatever happens in favour of Maharashtra. But there are some questions. For over two years, people (living in border areas) is pressing to be included in Maharashtra but the government is not doing much about it," the former Chief Minister said after the Maharashtra Assembly session that unanimously passed the resolution on the Belagavi border dispute.
Earlier on Monday while speaking in the Upper House of the state assembly Uddhav Thackeray asked the central government to declare 'Karnataka-occupied Maharashtra' area as a Union Territory. The Shiv Sena (UBT) leader said it was not just a case of language and border, but of "humanity" as Marathi-speaking people have been residing in the border villages for generations. "Their daily life, language and lifestyle is Marathi. Till the issue is pending before the Supreme Court, the 'Karnataka-occupied Maharashtra' should be declared as a Union Territory by the central government," he said.
However on Tuesday while the resolution was passed Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said in the Assembly that the case is pending before the Supreme Court. It needs to be ensured that there is no contempt of court while putting forth the demand, as the matter is sub-judice, Fadnavis reasoned.
Maharashtra laid claim to Belagavi, which was part of the erstwhile Bombay Presidency, as it has a sizable Marathi-speaking population. It also laid claim to more than 800 Marathi-speaking villages which are currently part of Karnataka. Karnataka maintains the demarcation done on linguistic lines as per the States Reorganisation Act and the 1967 Mahajan Commission Report as final.
