A decades-old border dispute between Maharashtra and Karnataka has caught fire again, with Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray staking claims to some long-disputed territories between the states.
Maharashtra, for the last 60 years or so, has been laying its claim on areas such as Belagavi, Karwar, Nippani, Vijayapura, Dharwad and Uttara-Kannada – that are currently a part of Karnataka, arguing that Marathi-speaking regions should come under Maharashtra.
And recently, in a public book launch event on 27 January, as CM Thackeray revived the state governments agenda asking for the disputed areas to be made into a union territory until the problems are resolved, Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister Lakshman Savadi spat back at him saying that Mumbai should be made into a Union Territory.