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Amid Maha-Karnataka border row, black ink smeared on Bommai's poster at Mumbai bus stop
The decades-old Maharashtra-Karnataka border dispute has resurfaced after Karnataka CM Basavaraj Bommai's recent claim that some villages in Sangli district - in Maharashtra - have passed a resolution to become a part of the southern state owing to facing water crisis.
A poster of Karnataka chief minister Basavaraj Bommai has been found smeared with black ink at Mahim bus stop in Maharashtra's capital, Mumbai, news agency ANI reported on Saturday. Multiple images were shared on social media that showed the defiled posters. This comes amid the ongoing border dispute between Maharashtra and Karnataka, which has witnessed leaders of both states taking potshots at each other.
In another incident on Friday, reports emerged from Pune about a group of activists, from a pro-Maratha outfit, painting state-owned buses in Karnataka with pro-Maharashtra slogans. Bommai condemned the incident and appealed to chief minister Eknath Shinde-led government in Maharashtra to take immediate measures to put an end to this. The Karnataka CM further stated that such incidents will create a split among the states and thus, Maharashtra must act swifty, news agency PTI reported.
“Our India is a union of states. Every state has got its own rights. These states were formed under the State Reorganisation Act. The law is very clear, and it is the duty of the respective government to maintain peace, law and order and see that there is peace and tranquillity between the states,” Bommai told reporters.
The decades-old border dispute between the two states has flared up again, even as the Supreme Court is expected to hear the matter soon. The fresh controversy erupted after Bommai claimed on Wednesday (November 23) that some villages in Sangli district - currently located in Maharashtra - have passed a resolution to officially become a part of Karnataka due to facing water crisis.
Maharashtra deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, however, stated that no such resolutions have been passed recently. He shared a video clip of him talking to reporters about the issue wherein he said that the resolution Bommai referred to was from 2012.
“No village in Maharashtra will go to Karnataka! The state government will fight strongly in the Supreme Court to get Marathi speaking villages including Belgaum-Karwar-Nipani,” Fadnavis tweeted along with the video.
Bommai sharply reacted to the Maharashtra deputy CM's statement by taking to Twitter later, saying Fadnavis' “dream will never come true”. “Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has made a provocative statement on Karnataka Maharashtra border issue…Our government is committed to protecting the country's land, water and borders,” one of Bommai's tweets, roughly translated from Kannada, read.
The Karnataka CM also vouched not to give up “any space in the border districts” of the southern state. “Our demand is that the Kannada speaking areas of Maharashtra like Sollapur and Akkalakote should join Karnataka,” he tweeted, adding that Karnataka is “ready to make” its legal fight strong.
Shinde, who in June split from former Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena and joined hands with the BJP to form a coalition regime in the state, has asserted that “not one inch of land (of Maharashtra) will go anywhere”.
