"No question of giving away even an inch of land," CM Yediyurappa on Belagavi border issue
Bengaluru, Dec 30: Accusing his Maharashtra counterpart Uddhav Thackeray of raking up the Belagavi border issue once again for political gains, Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa on Monday declared that not even an inch of state's land will be given away.
"It has been decided in the Mahajan report what has to go to Maharashtra and Karnataka. For political benefit the Chief Minister there is trying to create confusion. I condemn it. There is no question of giving away even an inch of land," Yediyurappa said.
Some of his cabinet colleagues also attacked the Maharashtra Chief Minister besides targeting the Congress asking it to spell out its stand on Belagavi since it was supporting the government in the neighbouring state.
Speaking to reporters here, he said the Maharashtra Chief Minister was trying to create a rift between Marathi and Kannada people.
"Our people should maintain peace and brotherhood, there is no question of giving away even an inch of Karnataka's land. Just because someone made a statement there is no need to create confusion. I appeal to our people to maintain peace," he added.
Maharashtra claims the border district of Belagavi was part of the erstwhile Bombay Presidency, but is currently a district of Karnataka, on linguistic grounds.
Bus services from Kolhapur district in Maharashtra to Karnataka had been suspended on Sunday against the backdrop of the ongoing border dispute between the two states over Belagavi.
North West Karnataka Road Transport Corporation had suspended bus services from Belagavi to Kolhapur and other parts of Maharashtra on Sunday, the chief traffic manager of NWKRTC Santosh Kumar told PTI.
The NWKRTC official said services had been restored and buses were plying as usual.
"Now services have been restored and buses are plying as usual," Kumar said.
Uddhav Thackeray had earlier this month had appointed ministers Chhagan Bhujbal and Eknath Shinde as co-coordinators to oversee his government's efforts to expedite the case relating to the boundary dispute with Karnataka.
Shiv Sena workers had reportedly hit the streets in Kolhapur on Sunday and burnt effigies of Yediyurappa and Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai and stopped the screening of Kannada films there.
The activists had also blackened billboards,having Kannada text, of some shopkeepers in Gandhinagar area.
The Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti (MES), which has been fighting for the merger of 800 odd villages with Maharashtra had recently submitted a memorandum of their demands to Uddhav Thackeray.
Police deployment has been increased in the border areas of Belagavi to see to that no untoward incidents takes place, police sources said, adding that few pro Kannada organisation staged protests against Shiv Sena inSankeshwarand a few other places in the district.
Stating that Belagavi is "part and parcel of Karnataka", Industries Minister Jagadish Shettar sought to know Congress' stand on the issue, as the party was supporting the Shiv Sena-led government in Maharashtra.
"Uddhav Thackeray became the CM with the Congress support. But whats the stand of the state Congress? Let them withdraw their support (to Shiv Sena) otherwise," he said asserting thatKannadigas and Marathis are living together in peace in Belagavi, where the government has built "Suvarna Soudha".
Suvarna Vidhana Soudha, modeled on the Vidhana Soudha, the state secretariat in Bengaluru, where legislature session is held once a year, was built as an assertion that Belagavi is an integral part of Karnataka.
Maharashtra claims Belagavi should belong to it.
Alleging that in Kolhapur, some Shiv Sena workers had burnt the Kannada flag, Health Minister Sriramulu said Uddhav Thackeray, after becoming the chief minister, has started his "mischief", and noted that there would not be any compromise on the issue of land, water and language of the state.
Accusing Shiv Sena of raking up the issue for political gains, Revenue Minister R Ashoka said "our government will not be cowed down by such threats, and there was no question of any compromise on the issue of our land and border."
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2nd phase of Bengal poll: 39.97 per cent polling till 11 am amid sporadic violence
Kolkata (PTI): Nearly 40 per cent of the 3.21 crore electors voted till 11 am of the second phase of polling in West Bengal amid sporadic violence, while tension gripped the Bhabanipur seat briefly as Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Suvendu Adhikari took swipes at one another in the same booth area.
Voters queued up from 7 am outside booths in Kolkata, Howrah, Hooghly, Nadia, North and South 24 Parganas and Purba Bardhaman districts, which form Bengal's electoral and political core.
Of the total electorate eligible to vote in this phase, 1.57 crore are women, and 792 are third-gender.
Till 11 am, West Bengal recorded 39.97 per cent polling with Purba Bardhaman registering the highest turnout at 44.50 per cent, followed by Hooghly at 43.12 per cent and Nadia at 40.34 per cent.
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Howrah recorded 39.45 per cent polling, while North 24 Parganas registered 38.43 per cent. Kolkata North and Kolkata South recorded 38.39 per cent and 36.78 per cent turnout, respectively.
South 24 Parganas, a politically crucial district witnessing several high-profile contests, recorded 37.9 per cent voting.
The first phase of polls in 152 Assembly seats of West Bengal on April 23 also recorded more than 41 per cent polling till 11 am.
"Polling is underway peacefully, barring some minor incidents in certain areas. We have sought reports from the officials concerned," a poll panel official said.
The early-morning convergence of Banerjee and Adhikari at the same booth area in Chakraberia turned Bhabanipur -- the chief minister's electoral bastion -- into the centrepiece of the day, reinforcing the symbolic weight of their prestige battle seen as a rematch of Nandigram, where the BJP leader had defeated her in 2021.
Banerjee was already seated outside the booth after receiving complaints of alleged intimidation of local TMC leaders when Adhikari arrived there amid heavy deployment of central forces.
Stepping out of his car, Adhikari declared, "I will not allow any hooliganism", while Banerjee accused the BJP of trying to "rig" the election using central forces, police observers and election officials.
"BJP wants to rig this election. Polls in Bengal are usually peaceful. Is there goonda raj here?" Banerjee told reporters, alleging CRPF personnel had visited the homes of TMC leaders late Tuesday night and unleashed terror in the area.
She alleged that election observers were acting at the BJP's behest and claimed TMC workers were being selectively targeted across districts.
Adhikari dismissed the charges as signs of "frustration", claiming Banerjee had realised that "not a single vote" was coming her way.
Banerjee, who usually steps out of her Kalighat residence late in the day to cast her vote at Mitra Institution School, broke convention and hit the ground before 8 am, moving through Chetla, Padmapukur and Chakraberia, underlining the stakes attached to Bhabanipur and the wider battle for south Bengal.
Reports of violence, vandalism and tension surfaced from several districts.
In Nadia district's Chapra, a BJP polling agent was allegedly assaulted inside a booth during a mock poll. The BJP accused TMC supporters of attacking its agent, while the ruling party denied the charge. In Shantipur, a BJP camp office was found vandalised.
In South 24 Pargana's Bhangar, the ISF alleged that its polling agents were prevented from entering booths.
Howrah's Bally constituency saw tension at a booth in Liluah after an EVM malfunction delayed voting, prompting central forces to lathi-charge agitated voters. Two people were arrested in the matter.
Police and RAF personnel were also seen chasing away crowds near a booth in Amdanga following complaints of unlawful gathering by bike-borne supporters.
In Panihati, BJP candidate Ratna Debnath, the mother of the RG Kar victim, faced protests and her car was allegedly stopped by TMC workers, while in Jagaddal, the recovery of a firearm near a polling booth triggered tension before police and central forces restored order.
BJP candidate from Basanti assembly constituency in South 24 Parganas, Bikash Sardar, on Wednesday, alleged that "200-250 TMC goons" attacked his car and assaulted his driver when he was visiting polling booths in the constituency.
The TMC did not immediately respond to the allegations.
Unlike the first phase, where the BJP sought to defend its north Bengal gains, the final round has shifted the battle squarely to the TMC's strongest belt.
In 2021, the ruling party had won 123 of these 142 seats, leaving just 18 for the BJP and one for the ISF. For the BJP, breaching this southern fortress remains critical if it hopes to mount a serious challenge for power in the state.
