Some buses of North West Karnataka Road Transport Corporation (NWKRTC), plying between the state and Maharashtra, were seen pasted with posters supporting the merger of Belagavi, Karwar, Nippani and other boundary areas of the state with Maharashtra.
Bearing the name of Nationalist Congress Party leader Praveen Deshmukh from Pune, posters in the Marathi language have been pasted on the rear of some of the buses which were on their way back towards the state in the early hours of Friday.
Karnataka-Maharashtra boundary dispute has flared up after Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray tweeted that the Marathi-speaking boundary areas of the state as Karnataka Occupied Maharashtra and they would make all efforts to get them back, during the Martyrs Day programme on January 17.
However, NWKRTC Belagavi Divisional Controller M R Munji said that no such posters were pasted on the division’s buses. He said he has been informed that posters were pasted to some buses of the other divisions.
Documentary released
Meanwhile, the Maharashtra government re-released a 50-year-documentary chronicling the more than a century-old Marathi culture, which flourished in the Marathi-speaking dominated areas along
the bordering areas, in Mumbai on Thursday.
The 350-minute black and white film ‘’A case for Justice’’ was produced by the Maharashtra government five decades ago.
The development came a day after ‘Maharashtra-Karnataka Seemavad: Sangharsh Ani Sankalp’ (Maharashtra-Karnataka Boundary Dispute: Struggle and Pledge), a book penned by Dr Deepak Pawar, was released by Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray in presence of top leaders including NCP supremo Sharad Pawar.
Deccan Herald is on WhatsApp Channels| Join now for Breaking News & Editor's Picks