Mumbai: Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut on Sunday said chief ministers of Maharashtra and Karnataka and NCP supremo Sharad Pawar should meet to resolve demands of Marathi-speaking people of Belgaum and nearby areas.

He also said that both the states should accept ruling of the Supreme Court, where a case over the issue is pending since many years. Maharashtra claims Belgaum, part of the erstwhile Bombay Presidency but currently a district of Karnataka, on linguistic grounds.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray last month appointed ministers Chhagan Bhujbal and Eknath Shinde as co- ordinators to oversee his government's efforts to expedite the case related to the boundary dispute with Karnataka.

Speaking to reporters on Sunday in Belgaum, located around 490 km from here, Raut said, "The three leaders need to meet to resolve demands of Marathi-speaking people of Belgaum and nearby areas (in Karnakata)."

He also said that the dispute was being heard by the Supreme Court for last 14 years, and both the states should accept the apex court's verdict.

On Friday, Maharashtra minister of state Rajendra Patil Yadravkar, who is the MLA from Shirol in Kolhapur, went to Belgaum to pay tributes to martyrs of the movement for the merger of Marathi-speaking villages there into Maharashtra.

A gathering is organised every year to honour those who died during the first 'Samyukta Maharashtra Andolan' on January 17, 1956.

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Bengaluru (PTI): Power bills for consumers under the Bangalore Electricity Supply Company Limited (BESCOM) will go up from May 1, following an order issued by the Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission (KERC) on Friday.

The hike comes after KERC allowed the BESCOM to recover a revenue deficit of Rs 2,068 crore incurred in 2024-25, from the consumers.

As a result, for every unit of electricity consumed in 2024-25, the customers will be charged an additional 56 paise, it said.

"BESCOM shall calculate, for each of the active consumers of FY2024-25 the amount to be recovered based on their actual energy consumption during FY2024-25. Such amount shall be recovered during FY 2026-27 in equal monthly instalments, to be called as 'FY25 True up Charges', commencing from the first meter reading date falling on or after 1 May 2026 and concluding with the reading date ending on 30 April 2027," the order said.

"It is further ordered that BESCOM shall maintain a separate head of account, allocated for the purpose, to record the adjustment of the said amount to ensure full recovery of the deficit," it added.

Similarly Chamundeshwari Electricity Supply Corporation Limited (CESC) has also recorded a revenue deficit of Rs 121.71 crore and can collect an additional 15 paisa per unit for consumption in 2024-25, official sources said.