Maha: Assembly passes resolution seeking to pursue inclusion of 865 Marathi-speaking K'taka villages into the state

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The Maharashtra Legislative Assembly passed a resolution on Tuesday pledging to pursue the inclusion of Marathi-speaking villages in Karnataka into the state.

The resolution was moved by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde amid a raging boundary dispute between the two states.

The resolution said the state government stands resolutely with the Marathi-speaking people in 865 villages. "The state government will legally pursue in the Supreme Court the case to include inch and inch of land of the 865 Marathi-speaking villages in Karnataka," the resolution stated.

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The Karnataka Legislative Assembly had on Thursday unanimously passed a resolution on border row with Maharashtra, resolving to protect the southern state's interests and not to cede an inch of land to its neighbour, reported PTI.

While moving the resolution in the Maharashtra state assembly, CM Shinde said the Karnataka state legislature had passed a resolution on the issue to purposely fuel the border row.

The Karnataka assembly resolution had also condemned the border dispute "created" by Maharashtra.

The border issue dates back to 1957 after the reorganisation of states 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 laid claim to more than 800 Marathi-speaking villages which are currently part of Karnataka.

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