Amid the ongoing border dispute between Maharashtra and Karnataka, the western state is bracing for a similar feud with Telangana as at least 14 villages in its Chandrapur district have expressed interest to join the neighbouring state. The villages, located in remote Jivati tehsil, allege continuous neglect by the state government and lack of development in the region.
According to an ANI report, these villages have to struggle for basic facilities like roads and water, and the local people resent with the Maharashtra government. With the Telangana government now starting to provide facilities like gram panchayat building, school and water tanks, the villagers want to join the state so that they can take more advantage of the social welfare schemes.
Although legally these villages are a part of Maharashtra, the Telangana government is continuously attracting the people of these villages with its schemes, reported ANI.
Schemes like financial grants for the marriage of girls, pensions for the elderly are attracting people in these border villages.
Sudhakar Jadhav, deputy sarpanch of the border Nakewada village, told the news agency that the people's representatives, government and administration of Telangana are paying more attention to these villages, due to which people feel connected with Telangana.
The Maharashtra-Karnataka border row had intensified last week, with vehicles from either side being targeted, leaders from both states weighing in, and pro-Kannada and Marathi activists detained by police amid a tense atmosphere in the border district of Belagavi.
Following this, both the chief ministers spoke to each other over phone and agreed that there should be peace and law and order should be maintained on both sides.
Maharashtra has laid claim to Belagavi, which was part of the erstwhile Bombay Presidency, as it has a sizeable Marathi-speaking population. It also laid claim to 814 Marathi-speaking villages which are currently part of Karnataka.
Karnataka, however, maintains the demarcation done on linguistic lines as per the States Reorganisation Act and the 1967 Mahajan Commission Report as final.
