The border dispute between the states of Maharashtra and Karnataka does not seem to be ending despite the intervention of Union Home Minister Amit Shah. After the Karnataka Vidhan Sabha, now the Maharashtra Vidhan Sabha and Parishad passed an act on Monday, which talks about assimilating 865 Marathi-speaking villages of Karnataka and a few cities like Belagavi into its jurisdiction. Karwar, Nipani, Bidar, and Bhalki are also part of the list of the cities.
Recently, after the matter blew out of proportion, Shah had mediated a truce between the two neighbouring states, and the states had said that in order to solve the matter peacefully, they will wait for the Supreme Court’s verdict. The Karnataka Vidhan Sabha elections are scheduled for the next month, and in the race to the same, all the political parties are busy politicizing this matter. In a dispute which is decades old, Maharashtra lays claims on Belagavi and hundreds of Marathi-speaking villages.
The Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Eknath Shinde, passing the resolution in both the Houses, accused the Karnataka government of deliberately provoking the border-dispute by passing the resolution in the Vidhan Sabha. He further blamed the Karnataka government of flouting the agreement reached in the presence of Amit Shah, not to further instigate the matter. Last week, the Karnataka Vidhan Sabha had passed the resolution stating that not an inch of land will be given to Maharashtra.
