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Border row: Maharashtra DyCM Ajit Pawar faces flak from Karnataka

"The Maharashtra-Karnataka border issue is very clear and we will never yield before them," Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said in response to Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar's remarks during his statehood day speech on May 1

Border row: Maharshtra DyCM Ajit Pawar faces flak from Karnataka
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Mumbai, First Published May 2, 2022, 2:24 PM IST

A statement on the border issue by Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on the occasion of the statehood day on Sunday has now snowballed into a major political controversy with the Congress in Karnataka lashing out against its ally in the MVA government, the NCP.

Ajit Pawar, while addressing a gathering on Maharashtra Day, said that it was a matter of regret that several Marathi-speaking villages along the state's border, which include Belgaum, Nipai & Karwar, were still a part of Karnataka.

He assured that the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi government will continue to support the fight of the people of these villages to become a part of Maharashtra.

However, top Congress leaders in Karnataka made it clear that they do not subscribe to the views of the NCP leader. 

Karnataka Congress chief DK Shivakumar said bluntly, "Not a single village will be handed over to Maharashtra."

Karnataka Chief Minister Bommai responds

Lashing out at the NCP leader, Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said that Maharashtra politicians cannot use the language issue for seeking political advantage.

"Whenever there is a political crisis in Maharashtra, and the government there is facing one right now, they invoke this bogey of the language issue. So, in order to survive politically, they resort to such acts," CM Bommai said.

"The Maharashtra-Karnataka border issue is very clear and we will never yield before them," he said, adding, "We stand firmly behind our decisions."

Former Karnataka CM's response

Former Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy said that Ajit Pawar had made an immature statement and that he should not forget that a number of Kannada-speaking areas are also within Maharashtra.

Claiming the Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister was playing politics over the sensitive issue, the Janata Dal-Secular leader said that by raking up the border dispute, Pawar was not only misguiding the people who spoke both languages but was also executing a political ploy to keep the border areas under-developed. 

Calling upon Maharashtra leaders to stop using Belagavi for creating divisions, Kumarswamy said: 'Let Ajit Pawar talk about the good of Marathi-speaking people in Karnataka. Let him talk with our state government. We believe that all those who live in Karnataka are Kannadigas. Pawar should understand this."

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