Nagpur: Flaying the Karnataka government for alleged harassment of the Maharashtrian community in disputed territory of Belgaum , chief minister Devendra Fadnavis reiterated his government’s commitment for its inclusion into the state and assured to take the fight to the end.

He was replying to the discussion on Rule 293 tabled by members including senior members Ganpatrao Deshmukh, Rajesh Kshirsagar, Sujit Minchekar, Raj Purohit, Ulhas Patil, Amol Mahadik and others in the assembly on Wednesday. Quoting State’s Reorganization Commission, they said the dispute between Maharashtra and Karnataka over Belgaum was leading to severe harassment of the big Marathi speaking community living there since last six decades.

They claimed that the Karnataka government was allegedly misusing its power to harass Marathi speaking community leaving in Belgaum, Karwar and Nipani . Many delegations from the area had met with the CM and other parties apprising them of their agony, but their problems were far from over. They said the Karnataka government had renamed the disputed territory, despite the fact that issue was pending in the Supreme Court. While demanding that Belgaum be declared union territory till the dispute between two states was resolved, the legislators demanded that the new BJP-led government should make its stand clear on the contentious issue.

The CM replied that Belgaum was very much part of Maharashtra and government would not leave any stone unturned to get back its territory. He said that the next hearing on the case would be conducted on January 9 in the apex court and the government would take help of top lawyers to plead the case. He added that the top court had already appointed retired judge of Jammu and Kashmir High Court Manmohan Sarin as the court commissioner, who would be recording evidence of all witnesses.

Fadnavis also announced that the government would constitute a panel comprising members from council and assembly who will visit Belgaum to understand their problems. The recommendations made by the panel would be then dispatched to the centre.

