Months After Border Row, BJP and Congress Snub Belagavi's 'Marathi Cause'

"Where are the chest-thumping quotes they gave in December when the border row escalated?" ask Belagavi locals.

"The issues of parties like the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress are totally different. Their parties are contesting elections at the state level. So, the leaders of Maharashtra from these parties have to act accordingly. They are doing what suits them best, they are not bothered," the president of Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti (MES) Deepak Dalvi told The Quint.

Spearheading the cause of the Marathi-speaking population in the disputed Belagavi region since 1956, the party is contesting the upcoming elections in the state on five seats in the region – Belgaum (rural), Belagavi (south), Belgaum (north), Khanapur, and Yamkanmardi.

The election comes just months after the 66-year-old Maharashtra-Karnataka border row erupted in December last year with violent protests in the border region, leading to leaders of both states engaging in a war of words for days.

The row escalated to an extent where Home Minister Amit Shah had to intervene and pacify the two state governments, both having the BJP in power, and urged them to wait for the verdict in the ongoing case in the Supreme Court over the border dispute.

While Maharashtra leaders of the BJP and the Congress spoke in one voice over protecting the 'Marathi asmita' in the region, come elections, none of the parties were vocal about the issues that the Marathi-speaking population claim to be facing.

"We are struggling since 1956. We have tried all democratic ways possible to register our protests. If any parties from Maharashtra wanted to do something, they would have done it by now," Dalvi said.

The Long Battle of the Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti

Formed in 1948, the MES has been demanding to integrate nearly 864 villages of Karnataka, apart from Belagavi, Nipani, Khanapur, and Karwar, with Maharashtra and has also been contesting and winning elections on the issue.

Speaking to The Quint, MES president Dalvi said that the only cause for which they are contesting elections is the alleged atrocities being faced by the Marathi population in the region.

Many from the Marathi-speaking population in the region have been alleging discrimination and forceful dominance of the Kannada language.

A functionary of the MES, on the condition of anonymity, said: "Kannada is being imposed on the Marathi population here. We often have to hear comments like 'We should know Kannada because the state is providing for us here.' The minority commission has rules for administrative business having to be conducted in languages understandable to the concerned masses. So, a place like Belagavi should be bilingual in nature. But we don't get any administrative communication in Marathi," he said.

"Moreover, you try organising any events here and have anybody from Maharashtra as the chief guest, you will have to run from pillar to post for necessary permissions. Something as basic as a literary event, they try to insist that we should have Marathi speaking artists from Belagavi itself," he added.

"You will not understand what we go through. You have to experience it to understand the depth of it. Our biggest issue is threat to the existence of our language. Kannada is a foreign language for us," Dalvi told The Quint.

The Candidates MES Has Fielded

A look at the political dynamics of the candidates fielded by the MES:

Belagavi (South): The MES has fielded Ramakant Konduskar from Belagavi (South) against BJP's three-term MLA, Abhay Patil and Congress. Konduskar, a former president of Sri Ram Sena Hindustan, expects to cut into the BJP's votes banking on his hardline Hindutva stand coupled with the votes of the Marathi population.

Belgaum (Rural): MES' RM Chougale is up against Congress stalwart Laxmi Hebbalkar and BJP's Nagesh Mannolkar, who Fadnavis himself campaigned for last week.

Belgaum (North): MES has chosen Amar Yallurkar from this seat against the BJP's Ravi Patil and Congress party's Asif (Raju) Sait. While Benake is a Panchamasali Lingayat, Yallurkar is a Maratha. The BJP chose Ravi Patil over a prominent Maratha face of the party Anil Benake, which observers say has irked many Maratha voters in the constituency.

Khanapur: The MES has fielded Murlidhar prominient businessman Muralidhar Patil against the BJP's Vittal Halagekar and Congress' Anjali Nimbalkar, all Marathas.

Snubbed by BJP-Congress, MES Finds Help from Sena-NCP

In the past week, several leaders from Maharashtra, including Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Congress leader Ashok Chavan, came to Belagavi to campaign for the candidates of their respective parties in the border regions.

However, none of the two leaders, who were actively commenting on the cause of the Marathi-speaking population a few months ago when the border row had heated up, highlighted the issue in their speeches.

While Fadnavis' speeches were centred around the achievements of PM Narendra Modi, the proposed ban on Bajrang Dal by the Congress was the biggest talking point for both him and the Chavan.

The three public rallies held by Fadnavis and one public rally held by Chavan were faced by sloganeering and black flags being raised by MES volunteers who alleged that leaders from Maharashtra not campaigning for local MES leaders is "double speak as per convenience."

Before Fadnavis, BJP leaders Chitra Wagh and Girish Mahajan also campaigned in the region.

Maharashtra CM and Balasahebanchi Shiv Sena (BSS) chief Eknath Shinde did not campaign in the region.

Another functionary of the MES said: "It's not right for them to come here and campaign against local Marathi leaders. Where are all the chest-thumping quotes they gave a few months back when the border dispute had heated up?"

Meanwhile, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut and Nationalist Congress Party's Rohit Pawar both campaigned for MES candidates in Belagavi. The BJP snubbing the MES and Shinde not campaigning in the region gave the Maha Vikas Aghadi in Maharashtra ammunition to attack the ruling coalition in the state.

Raut said that the alliance had shown its "true face" by fielding its own candidates against MES' Marathi speaking candidates in these seats.

"Shinde had said that he was jailed in Belagavi while participating in a movement for Marathi speaking people. Whys is he shying away from campaigning now?" Raut asked.

Pawar, too, campaigned in Belagavi for MES leaders for three days last week and attacked the 'anti-Marathi' campaigns by the BJP, specifically the party denying a ticket to Benake.