Karnataka’s border dispute with Maharashtra is settled, the Karnataka assembly is likely to say in a resolution on Wednesday, days after Union home minister Amit Shah set up a committee with three ministers each from the two neighbouring states to prevent escalation of the 56-year-old boundary dispute.
“The state’s border was affixed on the day the states were reformed on the language basis. As far as the state was concerned, there was no border dispute with Maharashtra and the recommendations of Justice Mahajan Commission were final,” the proposed resolution said.
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There was a half day discussion on the dispute in the ongoing assembly session in Belagavi on Tuesday. Both houses of the Karnataka legislature are likely to pass a resolution to this affect on Wednesday.
Chief minister Basvaraj Bommai on Tuesday suggested that both the houses should pass a resolution saying that the border dispute issue has been settled, which was agreed by opposition leader Siddaramaiah.
The development happened after Siddaramaiah during Zero Hour raised the issue and Bommai replied that as far as the state was concerned, the border dispute was settled and the state would not give up a single inch of land to Maharashtra. The state government would soon hold an all-party meeting on the matter, the chief minister said.
{{/usCountry}}The development happened after Siddaramaiah during Zero Hour raised the issue and Bommai replied that as far as the state was concerned, the border dispute was settled and the state would not give up a single inch of land to Maharashtra. The state government would soon hold an all-party meeting on the matter, the chief minister said.
{{/usCountry}}Bommai recalled an incident in June 1986, when Sharad Pawar of the Nationalist Congress Party, despite being prohibited from entering Karnataka, had managed to come to Belagavi, hid in a house and took part in the protest organised jointly by the Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti (MES) and the Shiv Sena.
The same way, despite Karnataka prohibiting the entry of Maharashtra ministers Chandrakant Patil and Shambhuraje Desai, who had proposed to meet the pro-Maharashtrians, the state authorities had kept an eagle watch in the border, Bommai said.
“Government has not allowed such Maharashtra tactics,” the chief minister said. He said Maharashtra Shiv Sena MP Dharyaseel Mane had forwarded his tour programme to Karnataka seeking ‘Y’ category security. However, he was told about the prohibitory order in Belagavi and not allowed to enter the state, he said.
Though having rights to move in any state without permission, there could be prohibition for some people with whose entry law and order is disturbed, Bommai said.
Responding to Siddaramaiah, who had said government should have held a meeting of all parties before attending Shah’s meeting, Bommai said that the state government also thought so, but had no time for that. Karnataka’s letter to Shah, which was written by the principal secretary to the state government, was yet another proof for the state’s “tough” border argument in the Supreme Court, the chief minister said.
Earlier, Siddaramaiah had protested that the state government was not taking all political parties into confidence before attending Shah’s meeting. He said Maharashtra’s claim on Belagavi and a few other places in Karnataka was politically motivated. Pro-Maharashtrian organisation MES has become a hurdle and headache for which it should be banned in the state, he added.
The former chief minister said Karnataka has no border dispute. The justice Mahajan commission was formed as per the demand of Maharashtra despite Karnataka’s protest, he said. Maharashtra did not agree to the commission’s recommendations, he added. “We will not even give a single inch of our land and the recommendations of justice Mahajan Commission are final for us,” Siddaramaiah said.
Many legislators, including from Belagavi district, participated in the debate. After the unanimous resolution is passed on Wednesday, it would be send to the Maharashtra government, the Union government and to the apex court, Bharatiya Janata Party leaders said.
On December 14, Shah had told Bommai and his Maharashtra counterpart Eknath Shinde not to rake up the boundary dispute issue till it was settled by the Supreme Court and had asked them to set up a six member committee with three ministers each from the neighbouring states to resolve the crisis.
Meanwhile, Kannada Organisations’ Action Committee convener Ashok Chandaragi welcomed the state’s stand on the issue. “Maintaining status quo or implementing the recommendations of Justice Mahajan must be accepted,” he said.
Kannada organisations also welcomed the move of the government. “It is a good sign that at least the government bowed to the request of Kannadigas in border areas,” said Deepak Gudaganatti, the Belagavi district president of one of the outfits part of the protest.