CM says will incorporate Karnataka occupied area into Maha

Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday said that his government will incorporate areas of Karnataka where Marathi-speaking people are in majority into the state. Thackeray was greeting people on 'martyrs' day' for those who laid down their lives for the cause of merging Karnataka's Belgaum with Maharashtra in 1956. Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti, a regional organisation fighting for the merger of Belgaum and some other border areas with Maharashtra, observes January 17 as the 'martyrs' day'. This will be the "true tribute" to martyrs of the cause, the Chief Minister's Office (CMO) said in a tweet.

महाराष्ट्रात समाविष्ट होण्यासाठी प्राणपणाला लावणाऱ्या सीमा लढ्यातील हुतात्म्यांना आजच्या हुतात्मा दिनी विनम्र अभिवादन!

सीमा प्रश्नात सर्वस्वाची होळी करणारे हुतात्मे आणि त्यांच्या त्याग तसेच समर्पणात होरपळूनही आजही या लढ्यात धीराने आणि नेटाने सहभागी कुटुंबीयांना मानाचा मुजरा!

— CMO Maharashtra (@CMOMaharashtra) January 17, 2021

Maharashtra claims Belgaum and some other areas, part of the erstwhile Bombay Presidency but currently in Karnataka, on linguistic grounds. Maharashtra claims certain areas, including Belgaum, Karwar and Nippani which are part of Karnataka, contending that the majority of population in these areas is Marathi- speaking.The dispute between the two states over Belgaum and other border areas is pending before the Supreme Court for many years.