Maharashtra-Karnataka border row: In the midst of a simmering border dispute between the two states, Swarajya Sanghatana activists on Wednesday smeared black paint on the signboard of Karnataka Bank at its branch in Maharashtra's Nashik district.
According to reports, they also shouted anti-Karnataka government slogans while writing "Jai Maharashtra" on the bank's shutter.
The Sanghatana was founded by Sambhajiraje Bhosale Chhatrapati, a descendant of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. At least 20 activists of the Sanghatana clad in black clothes and holding saffron flags carried out the protest at the Canada Corner branch of the Karnataka Bank Wednesday morning.
“If organisations in Karnataka think they have achieved something big by damaging vehicles from Maharashtra, we warn them we will not allow even a single vehicle from Karnataka to enter Maharashtra. We will not allow Karnataka people to do any business here," said Swarajya Sanghatana spokesperson Karan Gaikar.
The decades-old dispute escalates between Maharashtra and Karnataka
The decades-old raging dispute between the two states spilled onto roads on Tuesday with stones being hurled at vehicles entering Karnataka from the Maharashtra side near a toll booth at Hirebaugwadi in the Belagavi district of the southern state.
Similarly, at least four buses from Karnataka were defaced in the Pune district allegedly by activists of the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) faction and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena.
Gaikar said if the Maharashtra government fails to give a befitting reply to the Karnataka government, activists of the Sanghatana will go to Karnataka.
It should be noted here that the border dispute between Maharashtra and Karnataka goes back to the implementation of the State Reorganization Act, of 1956. The then Maharashtra government had demanded the readjustment of its border with Karnataka.
(With inputs from PTI)
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