'PM should clarify his stand on Maha-K'taka border row'

Jalna/Nagpur: A day ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Nagpur, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Uddhav Thackeray on Saturday said Modi should make his stand clear on the Maharashtra-Karnataka border dispute which is simmering once again.

Leaders of the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) in Maharashtra slammed Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai's statement that a meeting between a delegation of Maharashtra MPs and Union Home Minister Amit Shah on the issue would not make any difference to the border dispute.

Maharashtra Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Chandrashekar Bawankule, meanwhile, said the Supreme Court should pass judgement on the border dispute soon as the situation is getting "tense" and law and order issues have been reported in border areas.

The dispute has put the BJP in a spot as it is in power in both the states. Speaking at the inauguration of the 42nd Marathwada Sahitya Sammelan (literary meet) in Jalna district, Thackeray, a former chief minister, said Modi should speak about the issue.

"PM Narendra Modi is coming to inaugurate Nagpur-Mumbai Expressway and we welcome him. During his visit, he should clarify his stand on the Maharashtra-Karnataka border dispute," he said.

"He should speak about the Karnataka chief minister who is staking claim on some villages in Maharashtra," the Sena (UBT) president added.

The decades-old border row has heated up in the last couple of weeks with leaders from both states making controversial statements. Incidents of violence were also reported from both sides of the border.

The dispute dates back to 1957 when the states were being reorganised 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 staked claim to 814 Marathi-speaking villages which are currently part of Karnataka.

Karnataka maintains that the demarcation on linguistic lines as per the States Reorganisation Act and 1967 Mahajan Commission Report was final.