The Maharashtra government has reconstituted its high-powered committee tasked with addressing the long-standing border dispute with Karnataka. A government resolution (GR) issued on Thursday confirmed the reformation of the committee, which will now be headed by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. The decision to restructure the panel was taken to ensure consensus-based decisions by a broad, representative, and non-partisan body.
The panel has been reconstituted multiple times over the years, typically coinciding with changes in government. A similar reformation occurred on November 22, 2022, shortly after the Mahayuti alliance came to power under then Chief Minister Eknath Shinde. The current reshuffle follows the formation of the new government led by Fadnavis after the last assembly elections.
18 member committee headed by CM Fadnavis
The newly reconstituted 18-member committee is chaired by Chief Minister Fadnavis and includes Deputy Chief Ministers Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar. Former Chief Ministers Narayan Rane, Sharad Pawar, and Prithviraj Chavan are also part of the panel. Other members include NCP (SP) MLAs Rohit Patil and Jayant Patil, along with ministers Chandrakant Patil, Shambhuraj Desai, Prakash Abitkar, and Suresh Khade. BJP MLAs Sudhir Gadgil and Sachin Kalyan Shetty, as well as leaders of opposition in both the legislative assembly and council (where applicable), have also been named.
Notably, the Maharashtra Assembly currently lacks a designated Leader of the Opposition, and legislators from Shiv Sena (UBT) and the Congress do not figure in the committee.
Border dispute that traces back to decades
The Maharashtra-Karnataka border dispute traces back to 1957, following the reorganisation of Indian states along linguistic lines. Maharashtra has long demanded that Belagavi, formerly part of the Bombay Presidency and home to a large Marathi-speaking population, be included in its territory. The state also claims over 800 other Marathi-speaking villages currently situated in Karnataka.
Karnataka, however, has consistently rejected these claims, maintaining that the existing demarcation based on the States Reorganisation Act and the findings of the 1967 Mahajan Commission Report are final and binding.
