MUMBAI: Slamming the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Shiv Sena (UBT) president Uddhav Thackeray on Thursday said that the shifting of Maharashtra projects helped BJP win Gujarat assembly polls. He further alleged that the BJP snatched Maharashtra villages to Karnataka to earn political dividends.
“In Delhi, AAP won the MCD elections yesterday. And now, Congress defeated BJP in Himachal Pradesh. I congratulate both the parties for defeating BJP. They (BJP) only won in Gujarat because Maharashtra projects shifted there and these projects helped in their victory. Maharashtra Deputy CM and CM sold these projects to Gujarat for elections and now they are selling our villages to Karnataka for elections,” said Thackeray.
BJP returned to power in Gujarat with a historic victory while Congress made a comeback in Himachal Pradesh in the results announced on Thursday which also marked the start of an election season that will see several assembly polls next year in the run-up to the Lok Sabha polls in 2024.
The BJP has won 153 seats and is leading in three more of 182 assembly seats in Gujarat, the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah, smashing all previous records of electoral performance. The Congress held its nerve in Himachal Pradesh and won 40 seats in the 68-member assembly. Thackeray further said Union Home Minister Amit Shah must resolve the Maharashtra-Karnataka border dispute.
“I do not understand…if this is two states’ problem or an India-Pakistan issue. The central government must look into this. Home minister Amit Shah must resolve the Maharashtra-Karnataka dispute. They are snatching our villages from us. We cannot tolerate this. Many incidents are reported. Villagers are demanding to go to Karnataka. Maharashtra CM only go for Delhi darshan,” added the former Maharashtra CM.
Belagavi is at the centre of the territorial dispute as Maharashtra has been claiming that this Marathi-majority area was wrongly given to Kannada-majority Karnataka in the language-based reorganisation of states in the 1960s. The villages are spread across Belagavi and the north-western and north-eastern regions of Karnataka – all bordering Maharashtra.
After the implementation of the State Reorganization Act, of 1956, the Maharashtra government demanded the readjustment of its border with Karnataka. Following this, a four-member committee was formed by both states.Maharashtra government had expressed willingness to transfer Kannada-speaking 260 villages predominantly, but it was turned down by Karnataka. Now, both Karnataka and Maharashtra governments have approached the Supreme Court to expedite the matter, and the matter is still pending. (ANI)