A bus from Karnataka defaced in Maharashtra's Pune on December 12. (ANI Photo)
Union Home Minister Amit Shah has asked Karnataka and Maharashtra governments not to press their claims in state border dispute till Supreme Court takes a call on the matter. The Chief Ministers have agreed to the request.
- Karnataka and Maharashtra has been entangled in a legal dispute for over five decades. Since its creation, Maharashtra has claimed that 865 villages, including Belgaon (now Belagavi), Karwar and Nippani, should be merged into Maharashtra. Karnataka, however, has refused to agree with Maharashtra's stand.
- Belagavi, which was earlier part of Bombay presidency, is the bone of contention between the two states. While it is understood that the district has maximum Marathi speaking population, Karnataka in order to ensure Belagavi belongs to state, constructed a second power centre - the Suvarna Vidhan Soudha.
- In recent years, Karnataka too has staked claims to south Solapur and Akkalkote regions of Maharashtra that have a sizeable Kannada speaking population.
- Both Karnataka and Maharashtra governments have approached the Supreme Court to expedite the matter, and the matter is still pending.
- The Karnataka-Maharashtra border row escalated into violence after vehicles from both states were attacked and damaged in Belagavi and Pune last week.
