Sreya Kanugula
Maharashtra’s Chief Minister, Uddhav Thackeray stated that his State government will approach the courts for directives on declaring Maharashtra-Karnataka border areas as union territories until the matter is resolved.
He made this statement at a recently held book release in order to explain the stance of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government on the enduring border row between Karnataka and Maharashtra.
The CM also had berated the government of Karnataka on the alleged atrocities being committed upon the Marathi-speaking populace residing in the areas in question and stated that there was a present need to win this case for these people’s inclusion in the state of Maharashtra.
Earlier, he had also said that the Maharashtra government led by him was committed to the incorporation of the areas of the Marathi-speaking majority population from their neighbour’s (Karnataka) regions.
Maharashtra had laid claim to the regions of Belgaum and a few others earlier part of the Bombay Presidency on the grounds of lingual commonality despite them being included in Karnataka at present.
Some areas such as Karwar, Nippani, and so on, that remain parts of Karnataka, were being claimed upon the contention that their majority population was Marathi speakers.
This dispute between both states on the region of Belgaum and these other areas on the border had been pending in front of the Supreme Court for several years now.
The book that was launched at the aforementioned release, comprising several articles, cartoons, and other sources that had chronicled this issue for the past 64 years and thus, will help with the creation of awareness upon the issue for the new generation, stated the government.
And it will help fasten the gap between the local Marathi speakers and other Maharashtrian residents, they added.
The chief minister of Karnataka, BS Yediyurappa had recently slammed CM Thackeray’s statements in which the latter had stated that his government was working towards the incorporation of Karnataka’s areas in which the majority populations of Marathi speakers reside, into Maharashtra.