Maharashtra chief minister Ashok Chavan on Tuesday demanded that the disputed district of Belgaum be made a Union Territory until the border dispute between Maha-rashtra and Karnataka is resolved. Mr Chavan made the demand while replying to a discussion held in the Legislative Council on the border dispute.
Shiv Sena executive president Uddhav Thackeray was the first political leader to demand Union Territory status for the disputed 865 villages. Shiv Sena MLC Deepak Sawant had appealed to the CM to take up this demand during the all-party delegation’s meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday. Mr Chavan also approved of the Sena’s demand.
“The Karnataka government is committing atrocities on the Marathi-speaking people and the government’s policies need to be condemned. The Maha-rashtra government has written letters to the Karnataka chief minister time and again to register a protest against the police’s atrocities in Belgaum. Even the Belgaum municipal elections don’t happen democratically so that Marathi-speaking people are kept out of it. In such a situation, it will only be appropriate that the territory be declared a Union Territory till the issue is resolved,” Mr Chavan said.
The CM also appealed to members of Maharashtra’s BJP unit to work as mediators between Maharashtra and Karnataka.
“Your party has a government in Karnataka. I am not saying this from a political point of view, but if you can speak to the Karnataka chief minister and find out if there is any scope for resolving the issue, we are ready for discussions. Meanwhile, we will continue our fight in the Supreme Court.”
The Sena’s Diwakar Raote and BJP’s Chandra-kant Patil also condemned the Karnataka government for the lathi-charge on protesters in Belgaum on Monday.