Shiv Sena fumes at BJP's civic poll win in Belgaum; calls it 'treachery to Marathas'

Fuming at BJP's celebration over its Belagavi urban civic poll win, Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut on Tuesday, called it a loss for the Maratha community. Chalking the poll loss of Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti (MES), a pro-Marathi outfit to Karnataka govt's 'sabotage', Sena said that the entire Maharashtra was steeped in sorrow as the Belgaum cause had suffered a setback. Calling BJP's poll win a 'treachery to Maharashtra', he asked, "Don't you feel any shame?".

Sena fumes at BJP's win in Belgaum

"I am not going to blame the EVM for the loss. But to prevent a Marathi man from ruling Belgaum, whatever Karnataka govt has done will come out slowly. Today in Maharashtra, BJP is celebrating the loss of a Marathi man in Belgaum and distributing sweets. In Maharashtra's history, this kind of treachery to the Marathi man has never been done," said Raut to reporters.

He added, "People are falling sick due to the sorrow of the Marathi community's loss and you are distributing sweets? So what if your party has won, the Marathi man has lost. The Marathi community will not forgive you as hundreds of people have fought and died in the battle for Belgaum. Don't you feel any shame? Keep politics aside".

BJP wins Belgaum

On Monday, the saffron party swept the local urban polls winning Belagavi, Hubballi-Dharwad and finishing a close second in Kalaburagi. As per the final tally, BJP won 35 of 58 seats in Belagavi, while Congress was reduced to mere 10 seats. The Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti (MES), a pro-Marathi outfit backed by Shiv Sena and other Maharashtra-based parties failed to win majorities for the first in the hotly contested Belagavi. BJP has won Belagavi for the first time amid a high-octane regional battle between CM Uddhav Thackeray and Karnataka leaders over Belagavi's inclusion into Maharashtra. In total, BJP managed to win 97 out of the total 195 seats in the three large corporation polls, while Congress got 70, JD(S) got 5, AIMIM got 4 and 19 seats were won by independents.

Karnataka-Maharashtra border issue

The border issue involves a set of 800+ villages along with Belgaum district being claimed by Maharashtra as a part of the state on linguistic grounds. The Marathi-speaking majority district, which was previously a part of the Bombay presidency was given to Karnataka after independence. While several Maharashtra leaders including Senapati Bapat have fought for regaining Belgaum, the government-appointed Mahajan Commission awarded Maharashtra 264 villages including Nandagad, Nippani Khanapur in 1967, but let Karnataka keep Belgaum, while Kasargod went to Kerala. The Supreme Court is hearing Maharashtra's petition staking claim over Belgaum.