New Delhi:
Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan has taken the battle over Belgaum to Delhi. But the BJP government in Karnataka will not back down, making it clear that Belgaum is indivisible.
Ashok Chavan met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today and apprised him of the latest situation on the border dispute with Karnataka. He asked the Centre to intervene in the Belgaum dispute.
He said that Kannada cannot be imposed on 865 Marathi-speaking villages on the Karnataka border with Maharashtra. The largest chunk of these villages lies in Belgaum district.
But Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa holds that the Mahajan Commission report -- which had recommended the exchange of some villages in Belgaum district, but rejected Maharashtra's claim on Belgaum city -- was final. "Maharashtra keeps bringing up border issues...Kannadigas and Marathis are living peacefully. Unfortunately brings this up again and again," Yeddyurappa said.
No peace, says Chavan, who has a list of complaints against the Karnataka administration. ''The Karnataka government imposes new decisions every day. Due to those decisions, names of the villages have been changed, people have been attacked, and corporation elections have been set aside. Every day there is something new," he said.
Chavan's stand is shared by the Shiv Sena, also using the Belgaum card to needle its alliance partner, the BJP, which is in power in Karnataka.
"It is through you, the people; I want to ask the BJP to clarify its stand. Its stand should be made clear. It is their government in Karnataka and their Chief Minister, so their CM should be careful," said Uddhav Thackeray, Shiv Sena executive president.
The Maharashtra Congress has been on the defensive after its own government at the Centre submitted an affidavit in the Supreme Court last week saying Maharashtra had no claim over Belgaum because language was not the only criteria to include an area in a state.
Soon after, the Supreme Court allowed Maharashtra to file an amended petition triggering angry responses from Karnataka.
As both states refuse to let go, the ball is back in the apex court, except as each of its verdict meets with anger on one side on the other, it's going to be a tough justice to deliver.