It's a rare BJP vs. BJP clash. And the battlegrounds extend from Karnataka's and Maharashtra's power corridors to the border regions of both states, where the saffron party has governments.
The BJP is in power in Karnataka. In Maharashtra, the BJP is the senior coalition partner, despite the fact that the chief minister is Eknath Shinde of the Shiv Sena's Shinde faction.
The saffron party is caught in a bind: it cannot offend its ally in Maharashtra, but it also does not want to alienate pro-Kannada outfits ahead of the Karnataka elections next year.
On Tuesday, Maharashtra's Assembly unanimously passed a resolution against Karnataka, stating that it will "legally pursue" the incorporation of 865 Marathi-speaking villages into the western state. The Karnataka government had unanimously passed a resolution days before to protect the interests of the southern state and "not cede a single inch of land" to its neighbor.
Even as the escalating border dispute is before the Supreme Court, Union Home Minister Amit Shah has been forced to intervene.
The nearly 70-year-old dispute erupted again in November when Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde convened a meeting to assess the situation and delegated two ministers to increase coordination on both the legal and political fronts. A day later, Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai sparked controversy by claiming 40 villages in Maharashtra.
While Shinde stated that freedom fighters in Belagavi (previously Belgaum) and other Marathi-speaking areas of Karnataka would be eligible for pensions, Bommai announced grants for all Kannada schools in Maharashtra.
There was an uprising. Six Maharashtra trucks were allegedly attacked by the Kannada Rakshana Vedike as they approached the Karnataka border. Similarly, workers from the opposition Shiv Sena (Uddhav Thackeray faction) defaced Karnataka state transport buses in Pune. In December, a number of pro-Kannada groups gathered in Belagavi to protest the alleged beating of a student who was waving the Karnataka state flag.
The BJP is in a difficult position because it governs in both Maharashtra and Karnataka. The BJP cannot afford to alienate its ally, the Shinde-led Shiv Sena in Maharashtra, as this may enrage the Marathi manus and cannot alienate pro-Kannada outfits as this may have an impact on the state's upcoming Assembly elections.
As the row heats up, the opposition is doubling down on its criticism of the government. On Wednesday, Karnataka Congress president DK Shivakumar tweeted: "There's no border issue, it's been created by the BJP in both states. BJP MPs and MLAs lack the courage to speak in front of their party's top leadership. They have yet to send a delegation to resolve the issue. The entire Maharashtra government is inflicting harm on Karnataka and its people."
Maharashtra claims many parts of the Belagavi district in northern Karnataka because the people speak Marathi. The state has also contested the exclusion of many areas.
The Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti, a pro-Marathi socio-political organization founded in 1948, wields power in Belagavi and has long advocated for the region's incorporation into Maharashtra. The Maharashtra government petitioned the Supreme Court in 2004 to declare the border region a Union Territory. A similar demand to declare Belagavi as UT was recently made by the Shiv Sena faction led by Uddhav Thackeray, which drew criticism from the Shinde camp.
Shinde claimed that the previous Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government had ended certain government schemes in villages along Maharashtra's Karnataka border. "We approved the Rs 2,000 crore Mhaisal expansion scheme," Shinde said.
In 2006, the Maharashtra government told the apex court that it was demanding Belagavi's integration because of "the feeling of insecurity among the Marathi-speaking people living in Karnataka".
The Maharashtra Chief Minister recently stated that youths from border areas would be recruited for government jobs if they were found to be qualified. Maharashtra minister Shamburaj Desai fueled the fire by saying that if Karnataka's political leaders continue to make "irresponsible remarks," Maharashtra will reconsider sharing water with them.
Maharashtra invokes Article 131, claiming that the Supreme Court has jurisdiction over disputes involving the Union government and the states. That is why it recently requested that Karnataka wait for the Supreme Court ruling.
Belagavi was part of the Bombay state, which included parts of present-day Karnataka, at the time of India's independence. Belagavi (previously Belgaum) became a part of Mysore after the State Reorganisation Act of 1956 was implemented, and was later merged into Karnataka.
On May 1, 1960, when Maharashtra claimed 865 villages, including Belagavi, Carvar, and Nipani, as part of its territory, Karnataka declared that it would not give up any of its territory. On October 25, 1966, the Union government established the Mahajan Commission, which rejected Maharashtra's claim to Belagavi. Later, Karnataka was renamed Belgaum Belagavi and established a second legislature in the district.
Karnataka claims that only Parliament, not the Supreme Court, has the authority to determine state borders. It does so while citing Article 3 of the Indian Constitution. This means that, even if the Supreme Court rules soon enough, which is unlikely, the territorial dispute, like the inter-state Kaveri river dispute, will not be resolved.
For the last 70 years, all political parties, including Congress, have ignored the issue. According to the BJP, the border dispute is a gift from Congress.
The BJP is in a difficult position because the border dispute creates a political quandary for it because it has governments in both states. Union Home Minister Amit Shah has requested that the dispute be resolved in court.
But how far can the Centre go to avoid the issue? Will it cool down naturally? With the Karnataka Assembly elections in 2023 and the Lok Sabha elections the following year, the BJP must weigh all options and find a solution acceptable to both states. Sitting on the fence will not help; confronting the issue will. The BJP is on a tightrope, and every step counts. As the BJP strikes a balance, leaders in both states must recognize that the party's interests come first. There will be no winners in this political tug-of-war because it is BJP vs BJP.
