Shutdowns, roadblock to mark president’s Belgaum visit

 

Mumbai, 10 Oct 2012 (IANS): The Shiv Sena has called for shutdown in four districts of Maharashtra to "express the emotions" of people over President Pranab Mukherjee’s visit to Belgaum, the disputed town on the Maharashtra-Karnataka boundary, a party official said Wednesday.

 

The president is Thursday scheduled to visit Belgaum and inaugurate the new legislature building (Vidhan Bhavan) there after the town was accorded a second capital status by the Karnataka government recently.

 

Senior Shiv Sena leader and legislator Diwakar Raote here said the party has given a call for shutdown in Sindhudurg, Kolhapur, Sangli and Satara districts, all bordering Karnataka.

 

The main Kolhapur-Belgaum highway will also be blocked, Raote said.

"We wish to express the strong sentiments of 100-million Maharashtrians and one million Marathi-speaking people of Belgaum and other parts of Karnataka," Raote told IANS.

 

He added that since the matter was pending before the Supreme Court, Thursday’s function by the president could send a wrong message on the long-pending border dispute between Maharashtra and Karnataka.

 

Raote said Shiv Sena executive president Uddhav Thackeray and other senior leaders have already made their stand clear on the issue.

 

While Nationalist Congress Party leader and minister Chhagan Bhujbal wrote to the president requesting him not to attend the function, Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan also conveyed the state’s sentiments to the central government in this regard.

 

"Your inaugurating the Vidhan Bhavan would amount to the central government’s tacit endorsement of that (Karnataka) state disregarding Maharashtra’s legitimate claims," Bhujbal said in his letter to President Mukherjee two days ago.

 

Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti chief Balasaheb Kakatkar voiced reservations about the presidential visit to Belgaum, saying the matter was still pending in the apex court.

 

Besides Belgaum, 864 villages in Karnataka have a majority of Marathi-speaking people. These areas continue to be the bone of contention between the two states for the past 56 years.