Maharashtra-Karnataka border dispute: Sharad Pawar stand on row puts other netas on the mat

MUMBAI: Sharad Pawar has stolen a march over his political peers by turning the Maharashtra-Karnataka border dispute, which has an emotive appeal in the state, into a rallying point for Maharashtrians, said political analysts. The dispute has been pending for decades.
Addressing a presser on Tuesday, NCP chief Pawar slammed Karnataka CM B Bommai for growing cases of violence and arson in Belgaum, which has a sizeable Marathi-speaking populace and is a bone of contention in the row.
Moreover, Pawar warned he would visit Belgaum if violence was not brought under control in 48 hours. "The Karnataka government should not try the patience of Marathis living along the border," he added. Bommai's latest demand that some villages from Satara and Sangli should go to Karnataka has added fuel to fire.
While CM Eknath Shinde and Bommai have, after a long phone conversation on Tuesday, agreed to meet and discuss the matter at length, much depends on Maharashtra MPs agreeing to close ranks and evolve a common strategy, regardless of party labels, to place the issue before the Lok Sabha during the winter session.
Pawar's aggressive stance is in sharp contrast with the lukewarm response of the new generation of Maharashtra netas, all junior to him in state politics by two decades, said experts. The NCP president will turn 82 on December 12.
Pawar's senior colleagues recalled how he had pulled a fast one on Karnataka police to gain entry into Belgaum in 1986, despite a ban. When interrogated, Pawar, who was driving a Fiat, told police officials that he was a driver.
Chhagan Bhujbal too -- then in Shiv Sena -- had stealthily entered Belgaum in the 1980s, dressed as a tobacco merchant. CM Shinde, who then was a Sena greenhorn, spent 40 days in the Belgaum prison.
The BJP high command advised restraint to its Maharashtra unit this week, pointing that Karnataka too has a BJP government. Both Shinde and Fadnavis had plans to send two senior Maharashtra ministers to Belgaum to assess the situation and pacify the Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti activists, who have been fighting for inclusion of Belgaum, Supe, Halyal and border villages into Maharashtra.
"The Centre's diktat made the Shinde-Fadnavis government helpless, but people of Maharashtra, whose heart goes out to the Marathis living along the border villages, will be upset over the government's limp-wristed approach," said a Mumbai BJP functionary.
On the other hand, former CM Uddhav Thackeray's slow response has left a section of the Shiv Sena (UBT) huffing and puffing. "While our brothers and sisters are being subjected to humiliation by Karnataka police, our party seniors are planning a Mumbai morcha against the Shinde-Fadnavis government in Maharashtra," said a Shiv Sainik from Wadala, an old-timer.
Pointing out that the border row catapulted Sena and Balasaheb Thackeray to Mumbai's political centrestage in the 1960s, a Sena veteran said the week-long Mumbai 'bandh' in 1969 affirmed Balasaheb's leadership in city politics.
Several Mumbai Congress activists said Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, who belongs to Karnataka, should immediately intervene in the matter on behalf of Maharashtra.