‘Make Mumbai UT’: What’s the Maharashtra-Karnataka Land Row?

Karnataka Deputy CM suggested that Mumbai should be included in his state, amid war of words over border dispute.

Karnataka Deputy CM suggested to Mumbai should be included in his state, amid war of words over border dispute.

(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

A decades-old border dispute between Karnataka and Maharashtra is back in the news after leaders from both states staked their claim over the controversial areas.

WHO SAID WHAT?

Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, in a public event earlier this week, said that the disputed area between the two states must be carved out as a Union Territory until the differences are resolved.

“Let’s take a pledge that we will not rest till we win. If the long-pending issue is not resolved during this (MVA) government’s tenure, it will never be,” he said, in the presence of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) Chief Sharad Pawar.

Hitting out at Thackeray’s comment, Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister Lakshman Savadi, said Mumbai should be included in his state or at least be devolved into a federally governed province.

“We condemn the Maharashtra Chief Minister’s statement. We are confident that things will be in our favour in the Supreme Court. The people of our region demand that we have been part of Mumbai-Karnataka (region). So, we, too, have our right on Mumbai.”

WAIT, WHAT'S THE DISPUTE?

The dispute between the two states began in the 50s, after the States Reorganisation Act of 1956. The Act made Belgaum and 10 talukas of the Bombay State – part of erstwhile Bombay Presidency – part of the then Mysore State, now Karnataka.

The border dispute has been pending in the Supreme Court for several years.

WHY ARE BOTH STATES STAKING CLAIM?

Various Maharashtra governments have claimed that some parts of Karnataka like Belagavi, Karwar and Nippani, are Marathi-speaking regions and contended that these areas must come under their state.

Karnataka, on the other hand, has maintained that the region is integral to their state and that they have built a Suvarna Vidhana Soudha, where a legislative session is held at least once a year.

“I condemn Maharashtra DCM Ajit Pawar’s statement. The whole world knows that the Mahajan Commission report is final. Marathi people here are like Kannadigas in our state. We have created a corporation here for the development of Marathas,” Karnataka CM Yediyurappa said earlier.

THE MAHAJAN COMMISSION REPORT – WHAT ABOUT IT?

The Mahajan Commission was formed under former Chief Justice Mehr Chand Mahajan in 1966, almost 10 years after the dispute began.

The Commission recommended in August 1967 that 264 villages be transferred to Maharashtra and that Belgaum and 247 villages remain with Karnataka. This report was called "biased and illogical" by Maharashtra, while Karnataka welcomed it.