President to open Suvarna Soudha in Belgaum

Mangalore Today News Network

Belgaum, Oct 9, 2012: President Pranab Mukherjee will inaugurate the ’Suvarna Soudha’, a Rs 400 crore second legislature complex, on Thursday, October 11, amid objections by some political parties in Maharashtra citing the boundary dispute between Karnataka and its neighbouring state.

 

The Shiv Sena has called for shutdown in four districts of Maharashtra to "express the emotions" of people over President Pranab Mukherjee’s visit to Belgaum, the disputed town on the Maharashtra-Karnataka boundary, a party official said Wednesday.

The construction of Suvarna Soudha built on the similar lines of the state Secretariat Vidhana Soudha in Bangalore is considered a symbolic assertion of Karnataka’s long-held position that Belgaum is an integral part of the state.

Maharashtra claims that Belgaum belongs to it but Karnataka has maintained the issue had been settled long time ago when the central-government appointed Mahajan Commission in its report in August 1967 had categorically stated that the city was part of Karnataka.

Senior Shiv Sena leader and legislator Diwakar Raote here said the party has given a call for shutdown in Sindhudurg, Kolhapur, Sangli and Satara districts, all bordering Karnataka.

The main Kolhapur-Belgaum highway will also be blocked, Raote said.
"We wish to express the strong sentiments of 100-million Maharashtrians and one million Marathi-speaking people of Belgaum and other parts of Karnataka," Raote told IANS.

He added that since the matter was pending before the Supreme Court, Thursday’s function by the president could send a wrong message on the long-pending border dispute between Maharashtra and Karnataka.

Raote said Shiv Sena executive president Uddhav Thackeray and other senior leaders have already made their stand clear on the issue.

While Nationalist Congress Party leader and minister Chhagan Bhujbal wrote to the president requesting him not to attend the function, Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan also conveyed the state’s sentiments to the central government in this regard.

"Your inaugurating the Vidhan Bhavan would amount to the central government’s tacit endorsement of that (Karnataka) state disregarding Maharashtra’s legitimate claims," Bhujbal said in his letter to President Mukherjee two days ago.

Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti chief Balasaheb Kakatkar voiced reservations about the presidential visit to Belgaum, saying the matter was still pending in the apex court.

Besides Belgaum, 864 villages in Karnataka have a majority of Marathi-speaking people. These areas continue to be the bone of contention between the two states for the past 56 years.

Courtesy: Deccan Herald