BELAGAVI: The Belagavi City Corporation passed a resolution affirming that Belagavi is an “integral part of Karnataka” and that the Mahajan Commission report remains final on the border issue.
The resolution was adopted during the corporation’s general body meeting, marking a significant development in the long-standing Karnataka-Maharashtra border dispute. BJP and Congress corporators came together to support the resolution, setting aside party differences.
The move followed a directive from the state government’s urban development department. In a letter dated August 29, the department had directed the corporation to pass a resolution in favour of Karnataka, in accordance with a resolution adopted by the Karnataka legislature in 1988. The government had also warned of action, including the possibility of superseding the civic body, if its directive was not followed.
Corporation commissioner Karthik M placed the government’s communication before the house. Mayor Preeti Kamakar subsequently gave a ruling approving the resolution.
Members backed the resolution by thumping their desks. However, members supported by the Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti (MES) strongly objected to it and walked out of the meeting in protest.
Soon after the resolution was passed, Kannada organisations and Karnataka Rakshana Vedike activists celebrated at Rani Channamma Circle in Belagavi. They burst firecrackers and distributed sweets.
2005 resolution revisited
The latest resolution assumes significance as the corporation had passed a resolution favouring Maharashtra in 2005, when the MES was in control of the civic body. Maharashtra has cited that resolution in its arguments concerning the border dispute before the Supreme Court.
The Karnataka-backed resolution, passed 21 years after the earlier one, comes amid continued political contestation over Belagavi and other border areas.
