Shiv Sena asks Devendra Fadnavis to stand up to Karnataka government on Belgaum name change

Even as it is trying to strike a deal with estranged ally BJP to get a share of power in the Devendra Fadnavis led Maharashtra government, the Shiv Sena called on the chief minister to stand up to the Karnataka government's decision to change the name of Belgaum to Belgavi. An editorial on Tuesday in the Shiv Sena organ Saamna, which has party president Uddhav Thackeray as the editor, called on Fadnavis to protect the interests of Marathi-speaking people and said he was the "protector of every Maharashtrian and Marathi pride on the face of the earth."

Maharashtra claims 865 Maharashtrian dominated villages in the border areas of Karnataka and the city of Belgaum on the basis of the linguistic re-organisation of states. In February 1969, riots had erupted in Mumbai after the Shiv Sena launched an agitation over the border dispute, leading to the deaths of 59 people. It also pointed out that prime minister Narendra Modi had given his best wishes to the decision to rename the city with a Kannidiga name and urged Fadnavis to visit Belgaum and meet the villagers in Yellur who had been brutally trashed by the Karnataka police.

The Shiv Sena also lamented that injustice had been perpetrated on Maharashtrians in these areas during the regime of erstwhile BJP chief minister BS Yeddyurappa and pointed to how he had been brought to Maharashtra during the assembly campaign regardless of the sentiments of the 20 lakh Marathi speakers in the disputed border areas. It also said that the change in name was "injustice" and stood at odds with the case between the two states in the Supreme Court.