The BJP faces a tricky situation as the decades-old border dispute between Karnataka and Maharashtra, both ruled by the party now, is back under the spotlight. Former Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray has said Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has no courage to speak against his Karnataka counterpart.
Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai's claim that several border villages in Maharashtra once sought to be become part of his state has triggered a row."Have we lost our courage as Karnataka chief minister is easily making claims on Maharashtra villages?" Thackeray said on Thursday, taking a swipe at Shinde."Is Karnataka CM having any blessings from Delhi? Does the Centre also want the same thing?" Thackeray, a former chief minister who heads the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray), asked while speaking to reporters.
His ally and former deputy CM - Ajit Pawar of the NCP - also sought the central government’s intervention over the issue. In Karnataka too, the opposition has also sought review. Congress's Siddaramaiah - the leader of the opposition in the state assembly - demanded the constitution of an advisory committee, including him, to take stock of the row. The dispute dates back to the 1940s. In 1948, Belgaum municipality had put in a request that the district - with a majority of Marathi-speaking population - be included in the proposed Maharashtra state. India’s states were reorganised on a linguistic basis in 1956. Gradually, Belgaum and 10 other talukas of Bombay Presidency were made part of Mysore state. Mysore was renamed Karnataka in 1973.