New Delhi: Former Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray is the latest politician to raise his voice in the state’s ongoing border row with Karnataka, saying that Karnataka chief minister Basavaraj Bommai appears  “possessed” in laying claim to a number of Maharashtra’s villages. 

The decades-long dispute was raked up again recently when Bommai claimed that panchayats of some Kannada-speaking villages in Maharashtra’s Sangli district had once passed a resolution seeking to become part of Karnataka when the region was suffering from a water crisis.

The Karnataka chief minister also added that the state government was seriously considering this demand, according to a report in NDTV, which triggered an exchange of words from numerous Maharashtra politicians. 

Bommai’s remarks drew condemnation from Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader and leader of the Opposition in Maharashtra, Ajit Pawar, who sought the Union government’s intervention in the matter and appealed to Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde and deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis to give Bommai a “strong answer”.

Intra-BJP tussle

After the Eknath Shinde faction of the Shiv Sena broke away from the party to join hands with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) earlier this year, both states in question are ruled by the BJP. However, the border flashpoint has ostensibly triggered a conflict within party ranks.

Fadnavis responded to Bommai’s remarks by saying that the resolution on the water crisis that the Karnataka chief minister referred to dates back to 2012 and that no new resolution has been submitted.

“Not a single Maharashtra village will go to Karnataka,” news agency ANI had quoted Fadnavis as saying.

The deputy chief minister also added that the Maharashtra government would fight to get Marathi-speaking villages in Karnataka, such as Belgaum, Karwar and Nipani, to join Maharashtra.

Since the 1960s, Maharashtra has claimed that over 800 villages in Karnataka’s side of the border belong in the western state. Similarly, Karnataka has always wanted around 260 villages in Maharashtra, where Kannada is spoked, to be made part of Karnataka.

Also read: Karnataka Politicians Blast Thackeray, Protests Erupt Over His Statement on Border Areas

The Maharashtra government, in 2004, brought this dispute before the Supreme Court and has been pending since, with little progress by way of resolution. However, as the NDTV report states, a 19-member delegation of Maharashtra leaders from across party lines recently asked the Supreme Court to decide on the matter.

Calling the state government’s stand on the Marathi-speaking villages “non-negotiable”, Fadnavis recently said, “We will fight for our stand within the legal framework in the Supreme Court,” according to a report in the Indian Express.

Fadnavis’s comments drew sharp criticism from Bommai, who called his comments “provocative” and wrote on Twitter that the deputy chief minister’s demand will “never come true”.

“Our government is committed to protecting the country's land, water and borders,” the Karnataka chief minister tweeted.

He further added Maharashtra villages Solapur and Akkalakote to his list of villagfes he wants to see join Karnataka, tweeting, “There is no question of giving up any space in the border districts of Karnataka. Our demand is that the Kannada speaking areas of Maharashtra like Sollapur and Akkalakote should join Karnataka.

Earlier this week, Bommai had also remarked that the state government had assembled a strong team of lawyers to see out the issue in court.

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