Karnataka urges Prime Minister to reject Maharashtra’s claim over its villages

An all-party delegation from Karnataka met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in New Delhi and requested him to reject the claim of neighbouring Maharashtra over a total of 815 villages in the disputed Belgaum district of Karnataka.

According to information reaching here, the delegation from Karnataka led by Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy sought to prevail upon the Prime Minister that the recommendations of the Mahajan Commission on the border dispute between Karnataka and Maharashtra were final and the Federal Government should put an end to the controversy by implementing the report in toto.

The Karnataka delegation’s meeting with the Prime Minister on Tuesday comes within days of a similiar delegation from Maharashtra calling on Manmohan Singh on the vexed border dispute between the two states.

The delegation from Karnataka asked the Prime Minister not to yield to political pressure exerted by Maharashtra and “deprive Karnataka of a part of its territory”. The Karnataka delegation came down heavily on neighbouring Maharashtra for raking up the border dispute long after the Mahajan Commission has settled the matter with a finality.

Kumaraswamy also sought to bring to Manmohan Singh’s notice that former Prime Minister late Rajiv Gandhi had refused to reopen the Mahajan Commission report in 1986. “If we do so (reopen the report), there would be no sanctity for the institutions we set up”, said the memorandum presented to the Prime Minister by the delegation from Karnataka.

According to Government sources in Bangalore, the Prime Minister responded positively to Karnataka’s appeal. Manmohan Singh advised the two states to settle the border dispute amicably with mutual understanding. “Both the states should work with mutual understanding to settle the issue. We have other issues here to tackle”, he is reported to have told the delegation.