A day after the Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray demanded that the Marathi speaking region in Karnataka be declared as Union Territory, politics is heating up over the issue.
Speaking at a Marathi book-release event, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Wednesday had demanded the disputed Marathi-speaking area be declared a Union Territory till the Supreme Court gives its final verdict. Reacting to Uddhav Thackeray’s statement, Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister Laxman Savadi on Thursday demanded that Mumbai be included as a part of the Karnataka.
Political parties in Maharashtra have reacted sharply to Laxman Savadi’s statement. Shiv Sena spokesperson and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut went on to call Savadi ‘mad’.
“Some mad people keep blabbering like this,” Raut said while reacting to Savadi’s statement.
“Whoever that deputy CM is, he should understand that the issue is about two states. He should learn history first. Kannadigas have not been forced [to change language or lifestyle] in Maharashtra. We run Kannada schools in Maharashtra and we also give them subsidies. But the situation is not the same in Karnataka. This fight is to conserve our language and our culture there. Even Kannadigad staying in Mumbai would agree that Belgaum should be in Maharashtra. The Karnataka government should remember that a Thackeray is the CM of Maharashtra now!” he added.
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar too slammed his Karnataka counterpart Savadi, saying his comments should be ignored. “Mumbai always belonged to Maharashtra,” he said. “Savadi made the statement to play to the gallery. The long-pending border issue has nothing to do with Mumbai,” Ajit Pawar said.
The BJP, however, played safe while reacting to the row. “Whatever statement he (Savadi) has made, our senior party leaders in Karnataka will look into it. We have always believed that the long-pending issue has to be resolved amicably. However, some leaders should stop fanning emotions,” Leader of Opposition in the Maharashtra Legislative Council Pravin Darekar said.