Amid decade-old border tensions between Maharashtra and Karnataka, on Monday, several of Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti (MES) and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leaders staged protests near Kognoli Toll Plaza near the Karnataka-Maharashtra border.
MES has called for the Mahamela convention, which is held in Belagavi every year on the first day of the Karnataka assembly's winter session. The convention was supposed to happen Monday, but the Belagavi police refused permission for MES to hold the convention.
As hundreds of Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti workers and leaders congregated to protest against the Karnataka government, chaotic scenes were witnessed at Belagavi's Tilakawadi Road. Police have imposed Section 144, which prohibits the gathering of four or more people in the area concerned.
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.