Mumbai:
Maharashtra Home Minister RR Patil faces a police case in Karnataka for allegedly making a provocative speech in Belgaum on Sunday.
Belgaum is in Karnataka and borders Maharashtra, which lays claim to the area because of its largely Marathi-speaking population. The dispute between the two states over Belgaum is decades-old and has a history of violence.
The Belgaum police yesterday charged Mr Patil with allegedly promoting enmity between different groups, religions races and languages and violating the code of conduct for the Karnataka assembly elections on May 5.
The Election Commission is reviewing Mr Patil's speech. But his office maintains he said nothing provocative.
The minister's speech was made at an event organised by Kiran Thakur, leader of the Maharashtra Ekikaran Samithi (MES) and editor of Marathi daily Tarun Bharat. Mr Patil allegedly said that "injustice should not be done to Marathi people living in border states."
The MES favours the merger of Belgaum to Maharashtra.