Belagavi, 20 JUNE

Maharashtra has reformed its High Power Committee on border dispute with Karnataka, which consists of members from all political parties, with Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis taking the leadership. Former chief minister Eknath Shinde led the previous committee.

Vikas Kalaghtagi, a spokesperson for the Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti (MES), a pro-Maharashtrian organisation in Karnataka, said that though no one from the organisation was in the committee, it could advice as the matter was related to Marathis in Karnataka. "We have been authorised to make suggestions and guide the committee as we know more about the dispute," Kalaghtagi said.

The 18-member committee includes Shinde, Ajit Pawar, Sharad Pawar, Pruthiviraj Chauhan and Narayan Rane. Border expert Prof. Avinash Kolhe and ministers Chandrakant Dada Patil and Shamburaje Desai are in the coordinating team that deals with the MES.

Maharashtra, in a suit filed at the Supreme Court in 2004, claimed its rights over 846 places in Karnataka, including Belagavi, Nippani, Khanapur, Karwar, Bidar and Balki.

Reacting to the development, the Kannada organisations in Belagavi alleged that the State government is taking the matter lightly, unlike Maharashtra. Kannada Organisations' Action Committee convenor Ashok Chandergi said Maharashtra in its suit made the Union government as respondent No. 1 and Karnataka as No. 2.

Then chief minister Dharam Singh formed the Border Legal Advisory Committee in 2004, which was renamed as Border Protection Committee (BPC) in 2015. Minister HK Patil was the border in-charge minister when the BPC was formed.

 Who is in the committee?