Maharashtra in bid to claim border villages

EXPRESSES SOLIDARITY WITH MARATHIS IN KARNATAKA

TThe move comes as Karnataka recently staked claims over certain other villages in Sangli and Solapur districts here. The resolution calls upon the Centre to reprimand that state and guarantee the security of the Marathi-speaking population.

he Maharashtra Leg-islature in Nagpur adopted a resolution unanimously expressing full solidarity with the Marathi-speaking people living on Karnataka’s border villages, yesterday.

The resolution said the government will pursue an ongoing legal battle before the Supreme Court to merge the 865 Marathi-speaking villages with Maharashtra in Belagavi (Belgaum), Karwar, Nippani, Bidar, Bhalki and other towns, and commit to include “each and every inch” of the lands there.

The state government will also urge the Centre to implement the decisions made at the recent meeting chaired by Union Home Minister Amit Shah with the Chief Ministers of Maharashtra, Eknath Shinde, and Karnataka, Basavaraj Bommai, in New Delhi.

Firmly supported

“The state government remains firmly and with full commitment with the Marathispeaking people from the 865 villages,” said the two-page resolution, moved by Shinde and adopted by the entire House with a voice vote.

With Speaker Rahul Narwekar in the Chair in the Assembly, Shinde, Leader of Opposition Ajit Pawar and other leaders reiterated their commitment to stand by the sixdecade-old struggle of the Marathi-speaking people.

The move comes as Karnataka recently staked claims over certain other villages in Sangli and Solapur districts here. The resolution calls upon the Centre to reprimand that state and guarantee the security of the Marathi-speaking population.

“Maharashtra has already respected the will of the Marathi-speaking people from 865 villages for their inclusion in the state. The government has provided a slew of amenities and facilities for social, education and economic development,” said the resolution.

It added that the government has also provided other concessions like the benefits under the Chief Minister Relief Fund, special incentives for admissions to engineering and medical streams, training for Indian Administrative Services, etc.

The Maha Vikas Aghadi allies like former Chief Minister and Shiv Sena President Uddhav Thackeray, Congress state President Nana Patole and leaders of Nationalist Congress Party and other parties heartily welcomed the passing of the resolution.

However, Thackeray questioned whether the Maharashtra government’s initiatives shall be applicable to the Marathi-speaking people in Karnataka given that state’s aggressive stance on the issue.

“We still demand that given the current circumstances the disputed boundary areas must be declared as Union Territory to protect the local Marathi-speaking people,” Thackeray said.