Amid decade-old border tensions between Maharashtra and Karnataka, the Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti (MES) has called for mahamela convention, which the outfit conduct in Belagavi every year on the first day of the winter session in Karnataka assembly. The convention was supposed to happen Monday but the Belagavi police refused permission for MES to hold the convention.
With police beefed up, Section 144 was imposed in Belagavi ahead of the beginning of the Assembly session on Monday.
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“The leaders whom we invited have shown a positive response. Both the Thackerays and Sharad Pawar are expected to take part. If that happens, we give a strong tit-for-tat to Karnataka’s legislative session. Sessions are being conducted against our interest,” said Dalavi as quoted by Hindustan Times.
Meanwhile, Karnataka CM Bommai said that the state would have a clear stand after the Karnataka delegation meets Union home minister Amit Shah, which is scheduled on Wednesday.
The Karnataka Rakshana Vedike has opposed the convention which was proposed by MES and the pro-Kannada organisation said that holding the convention would only worsen the border issue, which has been on tenterhooks for decades now.
As reported earlier, it all started when the states were divided based on linguistic lines under the State Reorganization Act in 1956. Belgaum was then part of the erstwhile Bombay Presidency, which covered Maharashtra, parts of Gujarat and North Karnataka. During the state reorganisation process, Belgaum and the surrounding villages were included in Mysore Princely state (now Karnataka) despite having a Marathi-speaking population in majority. This sowed seeds of the dispute.