Karnataka's 'Little Maharashtra' Seeks Linguistic Rights As Border Dispute Flares Up Ahead Of Election

Karnataka Election 2023: While BJP had won 10 out of the 18 seats in 2018 in Belagavi district, it faces a stiff challenge this time due to resentment among Marathis who are in majority in the area.

With Karnataka set to go to polls in three weeks' time, its 66-year-old border dispute with neighbouring Maharashtra has flared up again after the Eknath Shinde-led government recently announced the extension of its flagship health scheme to Belgaum, Kalburgi, Bidar and Karvar districts of the southern state. While the legal battle is pending before the Supreme Court, the slugfest between the two BJP-ruled states has given the Opposition ammo to attack the Basavaraj Bommai government ahead of the May 10 poll.

At the centre of this row is Belagavi district, which was part of the erstwhile Bombay Presidency and constitutes nearly 40 per cent Marathi-speaking population. Maharashtra has laid claim to Belagavi and more than 800 Marathi-speaking villages that are currently part of Karnataka.

While the BJP had won 10 out of the 18 seats in 2018 in Belagavi district, it faces a stiff challenge this time due to resentment among Marathi groups after the party replaced a Marathi MLA with a Lingayat leader in Belagavi North. Belagavi North MLA Anil Benake has been replaced by Ravi Patil, leading to several small Marathi outfits asking their community members to boycott the BJP.

'We Are Living In Majority But Fighting For Minority Rights'

The oldest party that has remained invested in this border dispute for decades is the Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti (MES), which has been spearheading the demand to include parts of Belagavi in Maharashtra ever since it was formed in 1946-47.

This year the party is contesting five seats and is confident of winning three — Belgaum South, Belgaum Rural and Khanapur.

Shubham Shelke, former president of the youth wing of MES, told ABP Live their primary agenda for the upcoming election was to keep up the fight to have Marathi-speaking parts like Belgaum, Khanapur, Nipani, and Karwar merged with Maharashtra, and to get linguistic rights.

Shelke highlighted that despite the Marathis being a majority in the area, they were fighting for minority rights.

"According to the Linguistic Minority Act, if a particular speaking community is living in a particular area constituting more than 15 per cent of the population there, the local authority should give all government documents and sign boards in their language. We don't get it here. We are living in majority but are fighting for minority rights," said Shelke, who had contested the 2021 Belagavi Lok Sabha bypoll.

While the MES had much clout during 1957-1962, when it won all seven seats it contested, it lost ground over the years to the BJP as the party secured votes in the Belagavi region with its Hindutva pitch eroding language barriers.

However, the MES started to make inroads in Karnataka again after being backed by the Shiv Sena. In the 2013 Assembly election, the MES won two seats. The same year, the party bagged 33 of 58 seats in Belgaum Municipal Corporation.

Shelke said the BJP was not willing to solve the decades-long dispute as it was "political benefit" to both the states. "It is a political benefit to Karnataka because of linguistic issues. Maharashtra is not fighting that aggressively like Karnataka," he said.

On the ground, it is only the Marathi youths who have suffered due to the simmering border dispute as they have found it difficult to get jobs in Belagavi, the locals claim. A majority of young MES activists have their own small businesses.

"If a youth is looking for a job, they get rejected only because they are Marathi speaking. I owned a hotel and my mother tongue is Marathi. In Belgaum, the majority are Marathi speaking people. That's why I put up a signboard that had 50% Marathi, 25% Kannada and 25% English. But Kannada goons came to my hotel and threatened all the staff to change the signboard. Even the Karnataka Police are supporting these goons, rendering us helpless," Shelke claimed.

The MES leader, however, underscored that they were not opposing Kannada but only seeking their "Constitutional rights".

What Is The Maharashtra-Karnataka Border Dispute?

The Maharashtra and Karnataka boundary dispute dates back to 1957 after the reorganisation of states along linguistic lines via the State Reorganisation Act, 1956. When state boundaries were redrawn on linguistic lines, Belagavi, called Belgaum then, became part of the erstwhile Mysore state (now Karnataka).

Maharashtra laid claim to Belagavi, which was part of the erstwhile Bombay Presidency, as it has a sizable Marathi-speaking population. It also laid claim to 814 Marathi-speaking villages which are currently part of Karnataka.

To resolve the row, the Centre in 1966 set up a commission led by former Chief Justice of India Mehr Chand Mahajan. The Mahajan Commission rejected Maharashtra's claim over Belagavi and recommended 247 villages to be made part of Karnataka.

In 2004, Maharashtra moved the Supreme Court, staking a claim over Belagavi.

To reassert its claim, Karnataka has been holding the winter session of Assembly in Belagavi since 2006, and also built a massive secretariat building on the lines of the Vidhana Soudha in Bengaluru.

Voting Pattern In Border Areas Of Belagavi, Karwar and Nipani In Recent Years

Belagavi, Karwar and Nipani have a significant Marathi-speaking population who identify with Maharashtra and are in favour of the state's claims.

Speaking to ABP Live, political analyst Mithun Kumar said Belagavi district has traditionally been a BJP stronghold, with the party winning 10 of the 18 seats in the 2018 Assembly elections. "However, it's worth noting that the margin of victory in some of these seats was quite narrow, and the Congress and JD(S) also have a significant presence in the district," he said.

Karwar and Nipani are part of the Uttara Kannada district, which has historically been a Congress stronghold. However, in the 2018 polls, BJP won four of the five seats in the district. Congress bagged only one seat.

Will The Border Dispute Impact Karnataka Election?

Mithun Kumar said the border dispute was a complex issue that cuts across party lines and has the potential to shift voting patterns. "Voters in the region may choose to support candidates or parties that they feel are best able to address their concerns around the border dispute, regardless of their traditional political affiliations," he said.

However, political analyst and author PKD Nambiar said the recent flare-up of the border row and the war of words between Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai and his Maharashtra counterpart Eknath Shinde would not have any bearing on the election and its result.

"Language is a very emotional feeling for Indians, and the boundary issue between Karnataka and Maharashtra is nothing new," Nambiar told ABP Live.

"The recent war of words between the chief ministers of both the states have not gone well especially when both states are ruled by BJP... But it is now clear that the central leadership of BJP has got into action to ensure no further flare-up happens in this matter ahead of the election," he said.