‘Declare Mumbai UT’: MVA slams Karnataka deputy CM over remark

Following Laxman Savadi’s comment, the Congress calls it plot by Modi govt to weaken Mumbai

MUMBAI: Ruling allies in the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government on Thursday slammed Karnataka’s deputy chief minister Laxman Savadi for demanding Mumbai be declared a Union territory. Congress described it as a sinister design of the Bharatiya Janata Party (Bjp)-led Central government to weaken Maharashtra.

The Shiv Sena and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) also criticised Savadi’s demand, describing it as baseless. BJP’S Maharashtra state unit also dismissed Savadi’s claim. Savadi’s comment came after Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray had suggested on Wednesday that the Centre should make the Marathi-speaking areas on the Karnataka-maharashtra border a Union territory since there is an ongoing case in the Supreme Court on this issue. While Maharashtra has staked a claim over these areas, which include Belagavi (also known as Belgaum), Karwar and Nippani, Karnataka has maintained ownership of the area.

On Thursday, Savadi said, “Earlier, we were part of the Mumbai region. My demand and the demand of the people in this region is that Mumbai is attached to Karnataka. I demand the Central government ensure Mumbai should be declared a Union territory. The issue will be resolved once we demand Mumbai,” he said.

Congress described Savadi’s demand as a conspiracy.

“It exposes the sinister plot of the Modi government to weaken Mumbai and also Maharashtra. We have seen how attempts were made to shift the international financial centre and also trade to Gujarat. The Central government has been a silent spectator as its ultimate aim was to make Mumbai a Union territory,” alleged Congress spokesperson Sachin Sawant, adding that the Centre was using agencies like Enforcement Directorate and Central Bureau of Investigation to “to trouble businessmen and Bollywood” to weaken Mumbai.

Shiv Sena’s Sanjay Raut said his party was not taking Savadi’s comment seriously. “Savadi should understand history. The boundary dispute with Karnataka is to protect Marathi language and culture,” he said. Raut also said Maharashtra did not discriminate against the Kannada-speaking population in the state, unlike the way Karnataka has done in its Marathispeaking areas.

“The Maharashtra government provides grants to Kannada schools, libraries and cultural organisations in the state. Does this happen in Belgaum?” he asked.

Maharashtra deputy chief minister and NCP leader Ajit Pawar said Savadi’s claim on Mumbai was “baseless and pointless”. “The demand made by the chief minister [Thackeray] has no connection with what the Karnataka deputy chief minister has said in his response,” he said. “The Karnataka deputy chief minister may have made the demand to please their people. It has no base beyond that. His demand is baseless and pointless,” Pawar said.

State BJP spokesperson Madhav Bhandari also disregarded Savadi’s comment. “In our view, the statement made by the deputy chief minister of Karnataka in Mumbai is not worth taking cognizance of. We don’t want to give importance to it. The relation of Mumbai and Maharashtra is too old and demand cannot make any difference,” Bhandari said.

The border dispute has its origin in the States Reorganisation Act of 1956 that brought Belagavi and 10 talukas that were once part of the colonial Bombay Presidency and later part of Mysore, into Karnataka. Maharashtra opposed this on the ground that the population of Belagavi, Nipani and Karwar are mostly Marathi speakers. This dispute is pending in the Supreme Court.

At a public event on Wednesday, Thackeray had said, “When the issue is pending in the Apex court, the Karnataka government changed the name of Belgaum [to Belagavi], and set up their second capital there. A Marathi-speaking mayor was booked under sedition for taking the pro-marathi stand. This is nothing but the oppression of the Marathispeaking citizens in border areas. This leads to the contempt of court. There is a need to declare the disputed areas as Union Territory to restrain the Karnataka government from this unilateral action.”

State NCP spokesperson Mahesh Tapase asked state BJP leaders to clarify their stand on Karnataka deputy chief minister’s remarks on Mumbai. “We want to know if the demand made by Karnataka deputy chief minister is acceptable to the state BJP chief Chandrakant Patil and leader of opposition Devendra Fadnavis. We want them to clear their stand. If they are with Maharashtra then they are also expected to reply to the demand,” Tapase said in a statement released on Thursday.

The Maharashtra Government released a 50 year old documentary on border dispute titled ‘A case for Justice’ which justifies the inclusion of border areas in Maharashtra. The documentary released on Youtube was directed by Kumarsen Samarth.

It shows scene like NCC placard in Marathi and teacher teaching languages like Marathi, English and Konkani. It was released on the direction of the Maharashtra Chief Ministers office.