Old border dispute between Maharashtra and Karnataka on the boil again

In the latest flare-up of the border dispute, vehicles from Maharashtra were vandalised in Karnataka and vice-versa in a display of competitive chauvinism

The old border dispute between Maharashtra and Karnataka is on the boil again. Maharashtra is seeking the integration of 865 predominantly Marathi-speaking villages in the border districts of Belgaum, Karwar, Bidar and Gulbarga, and the six towns of Belgaum, Nippani, Khanapur, Karwar, Halyal and Bhalki. On the other hand, the Karnataka government has opened a fresh flank by seeking 42 villages in the Jath taluka in Maharashtra’s Sangli and Kannada-speaking areas of Solapur 

and Akkalkot in Solapur district be part of Karnataka.

Belgaum, around which the dispute is centred, was part of the multi-lingual Bombay Presidency (later renamed the Bombay Province). It