Belagavi (Karnataka): Karnataka’s border district of Belagavi is all set for another clash on the occasion of Kannada Rajyotsava on Tuesday (November 1), celebrated to mark the formation of the state.
The Maharashtra Ekikarana Samithi (MES), which opposes the merger of Belagavi district with Karnataka and is demanding its merger with Maharashtra, observed a black day to mark the occasion.
Meanwhile, the Karnataka government and Kannada activists have planned a grand Kannada Rajyotsava celebration across the state, especially in Belagavi. The Karnataka Police Department was alert to the developments and provided increased vigilance and police security cover in Belagavi city and district.
According to the police, monitoring of the situation will be done by three DCPs, 12 ACPs, 52 police inspectors and more than 3,000 police personnel have been posted in the sensitive regions in the city and district.
Nine platoons of City Armed Reserve (CAR), 10 platoons of Karnataka State Reserve Police (KSRP), 500 Home Guards have been deployed. Eight drone cameras, 35 video cameras and 300 CCTV cameras have been installed in the city.
MES was founded in 1948 with the sole objective of ensuring that Belagavi became a part of Maharashtra. MES found public support in Belagavi city and its MLAs were also elected from Belagavi district.
MES party MLAs have been pushing for the merger of Belagavi district with Maharashtra in the Karnataka Legislative Assembly, causing serious embarrassment to subsequent governments. However, the Congress and BJP parties in Karnataka managed to win their candidates and ensured defeat for the MES candidates in the local as well as in the last assembly elections.
The coalition government of BJP and JD S) headed by the then Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy built a ‘Suvarna Soudha’ in Belagavi and started holding winter sessions of the Assembly to give a message that Belagavi would remain an integral part of Karnataka. However, party workers of the Ministry of Education and Culture continue to pursue their agenda.