Maharashtra PWD Minister Chandrakant Patil has been appointed as the nodal minister for the Maharashtra-Karnataka boundary dispute.
Patil will be responsible for co-ordinating with the Marathi-speaking people of Belgaum, Karwar, Nippani and other areas in Karnataka regarding various problems faced by them.
A Government Resolution (GR) was issued yesterday by the General Administration Department (GAD) held by the Chief Minister.
For the first time, a nodal minister has been appointed for the border dispute with the neighbouring state which is pending since six decades.
BJP leader Chandrakant Patil hails from Kolhapur which is close to Belgaum. His appointment is seen as support to the people associated with the movement for years.
There are more than 850 villages spread across Belgaum, Karwar and other districts along the border in neighbouring Karnataka for which Maharashtra has staked claim for past 60 years on the grounds that majority people there are Marathi-speaking.
In 2004, the state approached the Supreme Court challenging inclusion of 865 Marathi-speaking villages in Karnataka.
People from these Marathi-speaking areas of Karnataka have often complained about discrimination and harassment by the Kannada-speaking civic authorities. They led several agitations in the past with some of them turning violent.
Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti (MES) and some other groups are still fighting for the cause.
In 2005-06, much against the wishes of his party
colleagues, Patil went ahead with the decision to ban the dance bars across Maharashtra and despite a legal battle, he stuck to the decision till the end.
Patil, who was deputy chief minister in the Congress-NCP government which was in power until mid 2014 and was in-charge of the Home portfolio, remained the party's face in rural areas.
Often projecting himself as a simpleton, his oratorical skills in Marathi packaged with the rural tone and context often marked him apart from others in the political arena.
After the Mumbai terror attack in 26/11, Patil landed in trouble for his controversial remark, "Bade bade shaharon mein, chhote chhote ghatna hote raheti hain..." (In big cities, small incidents happen).
This remark proved to be costly for him as he had to quit from the position of Home Minister. However, after 2009 assembly elections, Patil regained the home ministry portfolio which he retained till the assembly elections held in 2014.
Coming from a humble background, Patil, after completing his law studies plunged into Congress politics.
Till the last, he remained grounded to his rural roots to such an extent that he ensured his children Smita and Rohit also studied in a zilla parishad school and Sangli college.
