‘Karnataka-occupied Maharashtra’ should be made UT till border row is sorted: Uddhav Thackeray

Amid the raging border row between Maharashtra and Karnataka, former Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray has said that the Centre should declare “Karnataka-occupied Maharashtra” areas as a Union Territory.

Addressing the Legislative Council on Monday (December 26), Thackeray said the dispute was not just a case of language and border, but of “humanity”.

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He said Marathi-speaking people have been residing in the border villages for generations together. Their daily life, language and lifestyle is Marathi, he added.

“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.

The Shiv Sena (UBT) leader also asked whether Maharashtra Chief Minister (Eknath Shinde) has said a word about the issue and questioned the state government’s stand on it.
“The matter is sub-judice and there is a status quo on it, but who is spoiling the atmosphere?” he asked, in a jibe at the Karnataka government.

Meanwhile, the Karnataka government has remained firm on its stand on not to cede an inch of land to Maharashtra until the border issue is settled.

Thackeray questioned the central government’s role as “guardian” of both the states.

“Has the central government acted as guardian? We expect the central government to act as the guardian,” he said.

He also said (members of) both the Houses should watch the movie Case for Justice and read the Mahajan Commission report (on the border issue).

When the Belagavi Municipal Corporation passed a resolution to merge with Maharashtra, action was taken against the corporation, Thackeray said.

“Similarly, some gram panchayats of Maharashtra had demanded a merger with Telangana. Does the Shinde government have little courage to even act against these gram panchayats?” he asked.

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The border issue dates back to 1957 after the reorganisation of states on linguistic lines. Maharashtra laid claim to Belagavi, which was part of the erstwhile Bombay Presidency, as it has a sizeable 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.

(With inputs from agencies)