Police stop Shiv Sena activists from entering Belagavi at Maharashtra border
Belagavi (PTI): Shiv Sena activists on their way towards Belagavi to participate in the 'black day' event by Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti (MES), on the occasion of Karnataka formation day, were prevented entry by the police at the border between the two states on Wednesday.
They were stopped at Kognoli check post in Nippani taluk on the Pune-Bengaluru national highway here, police said.
According to police, about 30 Shiv Sena activists led by its Kolhapur district President Vijay Devane were stopped at the border from entering Belagavi and handed over to Kolhapur Police.
MES, which has been fighting for the merger of several Marathi-speaking areas and villages of the state with Maharashtra for long, observes 'Karnataka Rajyotsava' day as a black day every year.
The Belagavi administration had on Tuesday banned three Maharashtra ministers and an MP from entering this border district citing maintenance of law and order, as they are expected to participate in the "black day" event, foreseeing the chances of them making provocative speeches during the visit, also Kannada activists could gherao them, and it could result in clashes with MES activists.
Maharashtra Ministers Shambhuraje Desai, Chandrakant Patil, Deepak Kesarkar and MP Dhairyasheel Mane were expected to attend the MES event, official sources said.
MES had recently met Maharashtra Chief Minister Ekanath Shinde at Kolhapur, seeking his support on the boundary issue and requesting that he send representatives to take part in the MES event.
The border issue dates back to 1957 when states were reorganised on linguistic lines. Maharashtra laid claim to Belagavi, which was part of the erstwhile Bombay Presidency, as it has a sizeable Marathi-speaking population, and over 800 Marathi-speaking border villages that are currently a part of Karnataka.
Karnataka maintains that the demarcation done on linguistic lines as per the States Reorganisation Act and the 1967 Mahajan Commission Report is final.
To assert that Belagavi is an integral part of the state, Karnataka built the 'Suvarna Vidhana Soudha' there, modelled on the Vidhana Soudha, the seat of the State Legislature and Secretariat in Bengaluru.
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Bengal polls: Mamata Banerjee backs Jyotipriya Mallick as TMC's candidate from Habra
Habra (WB) (PTI): West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday extended her full support to long-time political associate Jyotipriya Mallick, claiming he was targeted in a money laundering case due to a CPI(M) conspiracy.
Mallick, who held the Food and Supplies portfolio in the Mamata Banerjee government from 2011 to 2021, was arrested by the ED in October 2023 in a money laundering case linked to an alleged multi-crore ration distribution scam.
He was granted bail in January 2025. At the time of his arrest, he was the state’s forest minister.
Extending her full support to Mallick, who is contesting from Habra constituency for a fourth consecutive term, Banerjee claimed that the CPI(M) and the BJP were spreading canards against him.
"Nobody has worked as well as Balu (Mallick) did in my government," Banerjee said, adding that he was arrested out of "jealousy".
The chief minister alleged that CPI(M) entered 1.5 crore false names in the PDS ration list, which Mallick detected and removed.
She also claimed the Left party persuaded the BJP to register the case against him.
"Balu was instrumental in providing digital ration cards to beneficiaries and introduced a system to track vehicles transporting PDS goods," Banerjee said.
She also defended her nephew and TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee, questioning why honest business earnings were being scrutinised.
Addressing voters ahead of the two-phase Assembly polls, she said, "I am the candidate everywhere. One vote for Trinamool means voting for me. If you want development work to continue under my leadership, exercise your franchise with my face in mind."
Training her guns on the CPI(M), Banerjee asserted that the Left party drew a blank in the elections because of her.
The CPI(M)-led Left Front could not win a single seat in the 2021 Assembly elections, and also in the 2019 and 2024 Lok Sabha polls in Bengal.
"ED or CBI cases are not registered against CPI(M), because they play got-up games with the BJP," the TMC chief said.
Banerjee claimed that the CPI(M) candidates, by dividing votes, will try to help the BJP win seats, asserting that anti-BJP votes should go only to the TMC.
She said people were made to stand in long queues for SIR and asked voters, "Will you avenge this or not?"
She claimed that former CPI(M) workers and supporters have now shifted allegiance to the BJP, while accusing the saffron party, Left and Congress of being "in cahoots with each other."
"Where were they when SIR was being done?" she asked, asserting that only TMC workers stood by the people during that period.
