Maharashtra to seek early SC hearing for Marathi-speaking people in Karnataka: Fadnavis

Mumbai, Jul 8 (PTI) Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Wednesday reiterated the state’s commitment to the long-pending Maharashtra-Karnataka border dispute, assuring Marathi-speaking people in the border areas that the entire state stood firmly behind them, sources said. The CM, who chaired a meeting of the high-power committee on the border issue, said Maharashtra had been fighting a prolonged legal and constitutional battle and would continue to pursue it, according to the sources. “The entire Maharashtra stands with you,” he told representatives of the Marathi-speaking population in the disputed border regions, said a source, quoting the CM. The chief minister said the issue of Marathi-speaking people in Karnataka would be raised before the National Commission for Linguistic Minorities through Maharashtra’s Members of Parliament in New Delhi. He also announced that the Maharashtra government would file a fresh application before the Supreme Court seeking an early hearing of the interstate boundary dispute. The state moved the top court in 2004 over the issue. Fadnavis said the state government would provide legal assistance to Marathi-speaking people in Karnataka by appointing lawyers to fight their cases related to this border dispute, with the government bearing the legal expenses, according to the sources. He further said Maharashtra would once again write to the Union Home Minister, requesting a bilateral meeting involving three ministers each from Maharashtra and Karnataka to explore the possibility of resolving some issues outside the court process while the legal proceedings continue. NCP (SP) president Sharad Pawar also attended the high-powered committee meeting on the border row at Vidhan Bhavan, the Maharashtra legislature complex, said sources. After he arrived at Vidhan Bhavan, the 85-year-old veteran leader was taken to the meeting in a wheelchair, they said. The Maharashtra-Karnataka border dispute dates back to 1957 after the reorganisation of states on linguistic lines. Maharashtra laid claim to Belagavi, which was part of the erstwhile Bombay Presidency, as it has a sizeable Marathi-speaking population. It also laid claim to over 800 Marathi-speaking villages, which are currently part of Karnataka. Karnataka maintains the demarcation done on linguistic lines as per the States Reorganisation Act and the 1967 Mahajan Commission Report as final. PTI COR NR