Bangalore, Aug. 31: A Marathi-speaking politician who heads the women's wing of the Congress's Karnataka unit has landed her party in a spot by saying she would chant "Jai Maharashtra" the day the disputed border district of Belgaum becomes part of the neighbouring state.
"If the Supreme Court orders a merger of Belgaum with Maharashtra, I will be the first person to say Jai Maharashtra," Lakshmi Hebbalkar told a Ganesh Chaturthi gathering in the north Karnataka district on August 25.
Karnataka and Maharashtra both claim the Marathi-majority district and the dispute has been pending in the top court since 2004.
But Hebbalkar has put her party on a sticky wicket as successive governments in Karnataka under different parties have always maintained that Belgaum is part of the state.
The Congress, which rules Karnataka, said it would study Hebbalkar's statement. "We don't know in what context she made that remark," state unit working president Dinesh Gundu Rao said amid calls from pro-Kannada outfits and the BJP to sack the leader.
"We will study her statement and take appropriate action as the Congress has always said Belgaum is part of Karnataka," Rao added.
Hebbalkar later apologised for the statement but claimed it was only part of her address at the Friday gathering, attended mainly by Marathi speakers, and had been taken out of context.
"I am truly sorry if my words have hurt the people. But I never said anything against Kannada and Karnataka. I love this land and will always remain loyal to Karnataka," she said.
The dispute dates back to 1948 when the Belgaum municipality demanded that the entire Marathi-majority district be included in the proposed Maharashtra state. But the States Reorganisation Act of 1956 made it part of the then Mysore state, adding parts of Bombay, Hyderabad and Madras and the whole of Coorg. The state of Mysore was renamed Karnataka in 1973.
When Maharashtra objected to the non-inclusion of Belgaum in its territory, the central government formed a commission under retired Chief Justice of India Mehr Chand Mahajan in 1966.
The commission recommended transfer of 262 Marathi-speaking villages to Maharashtra. But Maharashtra rejected the report and demanded that all Marathi-speaking villages in other north Karnataka districts be transferred to it. The report is yet to be implemented.
The contending parties later approached the top court, where the case has been pending since 2004.
As Hebbalkar's speech went viral this morning, activists of the Karnataka Rakshana Vedike, an apolitical pro-kannada outfit, urged the Congress to sack her.
KRV president T. Narayana Gowda called her a "backstabber" and said "she should be ashamed" for betraying the people of the state where she lives.
BJP MLA and party spokesperson Suresh Kumar lashed out at Hebbalkar. "The Congress is trying to get a separate flag for Karnataka while its own leader so openly supports Maharashtra," he said, alluding to the government's support to pro-Kannada activists who have been seeking a separate state flag.
"She must be removed immediately as it is dangerous to make such a statement, even if it is for votes," Kumar added, implying that Hebbalkar was trying to cosy up to Marathi voters ahead of the Assembly elections next year.
A Congress source said Hebbalkar's comment was very unfortunate. "Everyone knows Belgaum is a sensitive issue. She shouldn't have put the party in trouble," said the leader who didn't want to be named.
