Bengaluru, 9 July

Karnataka Minister Priyank Kharge on Thursday said Maharashtra is free to extend legal assistance to organisations linked to that state, such as the MES, but cautioned that it should not back any activity that could lead to conflict.

Asserting that Karnataka will not allow pro-Maharashtra organisations like the Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti, which is active in the border district of Belagavi, to indulge in mischief or agitations that may lead to conflict, Priyank said the neighbouring state could take it as a "warning or advice".

He hoped its government has enough "maturity and wisdom."

The state home minister was responding to a question about Maharashtra reportedly announcing it would provide legal assistance to Marathi-speaking people and organisations, such as the MES, facing court cases in Karnataka.

"If they want to support their organisations, let them — we have no locus standi in it. But when it comes to our land, water, state and language, we will not back out. Let them do whatever they want, let them back MES or anyone else. But whether it is Maharashtra, Goa, Kerala, Tamil Nadu or Andhra Pradesh, if there are any border issues, ultimately the matter has to be fought legally," Priyank said.

Speaking to reporters, he said, "Just because some organisations or some CM or minister says something, we cannot draw lines however we want. The borders have been drawn by the States Reorganisation Commission on linguistic grounds."

Stating that there is nothing Karnataka can do if the Maharashtra government extends legal assistance to organisations such as the MES, he said, "But there should be no backing for any activities that may lead to conflict. We too won't let such things happen. Let them take it as a warning or as advice. We will not allow any attempts to indulge in mischief in our state or agitations that may lead to conflict."

"They are free to indulge in legal fights, raise their demands, and do whatever is within the legal ambit. We have no objections to it. We too will do it. But supporting all their activities as a government is not acceptable. I'm sure there is much maturity and wisdom in the Maharashtra government," he added.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Wednesday said his government will appoint senior legal experts, if needed, to ensure the long-pending boundary dispute with Karnataka is taken up for hearing in the Supreme Court at the earliest.

Speaking at a meeting of a high-power committee on the border issue held at the state legislature in Mumbai, Fadnavis stressed that every possible effort will be made to resolve the dispute and protect the rights of Marathi-speaking people living in the border areas.

He said the state government will provide legal assistance to Marathi-speaking people facing court cases in Karnataka and will appoint lawyers for them, with the government bearing the legal expenses for these cases.

Claiming that Marathi-speaking people in the border areas face several difficulties, Fadnavis assured them that the state stands firmly behind them.

The border dispute between the two states dates back to 1957, when states were reorganised on linguistic lines.

Maharashtra has laid claim to Belagavi, part of the erstwhile Bombay Presidency, citing its sizable Marathi-speaking population, and to over 800 Marathi-speaking border villages currently part of Karnataka.

Karnataka maintains that the demarcation done on linguistic lines as per the States Reorganisation Act and the 1967 Mahajan Commission Report is final.

To assert that Belagavi is an integral part of the state, Karnataka built the Suvarna Vidhana Soudha in Belagavi, modelled on the Vidhana Soudha — the seat of the state legislature and secretariat in Bengaluru — and holds a legislature session there once a year.