Maharashtra govt officials not allowed to enter Karnataka: Siddaramaiah

Belagavi, Jan 17 (PTI) Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Wednesday said Maharashtra government officials have been told not to enter the state amid reports that they have decided to implement the health insurance scheme in 865 Marathi-dominated villages bordering Maharashtra.

"Our Chief Secretary has spoken (to his Maharashtra counterpart) asking them (government officials) not to enter Karnataka," the chief minister told reporters here before leaving for the inauguration of Sainik School in Bailahongala Taluk in Belagavi district.

The move comes amid a border row over Belagavi between Karnataka and Maharashtra which flares up from time to time.

The row dates back to 1957 when states were reorganised on linguistic lines.

Maharashtra laid claim to Belagavi, which was part of the erstwhile Bombay Presidency, as it has a sizable Marathi-speaking population. It also staked claim to over 800 Marathi-speaking villages which are currently a part of Karnataka.

Karnataka maintains that the demarcation done on linguistic lines as per the States Reorganisation Act and the 1967 Mahajan Commission Report is final.

In an assertion about Belagavi being an integral part of the state, Karnataka built the 'Suvarna Vidhana Soudha' there, modelled on the Vidhana Soudha, the seat of the State Legislature and Secretariat, in Bengaluru. PTI