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As one drives down Yellur and Belagavi, many new statues of Shivaji can be seen coming up. Pic/News18
With 18 seats, it becomes a key district for the May 10 Karnataka assembly polls. Belagavi, or Belgaum as it was earlier called, has also become the political hotspot of a border dispute between Maharashtra and Karnataka
As the car drives into Yellur in Belagavi district, one of the first signboards one sees announces a ‘Shivaji Chowk’. A little further down is the Rajhansgad fort, which boasts a shining new statue of Shivaji, inaugurated by Karnataka chief minister Basavaraj Bommai last month. There is a strategy behind this.
Yellur, which falls in the Belagavi district, has a large Marathi population, almost 40%. Belagavi, or Belgaum as it was earlier called, has also become the political hotspot of a border dispute between Maharashtra and Karnataka.
With 18 seats, Belagavi becomes a key district for the May 10 assembly polls. And with the Congress giving a tough fight, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party doesn’t wish to take any chances.
It’s also the reason why CM Bommai wants to placate the Marathas who are dominant in the area. But the piquant situation is that the BJP has kept away its high-profile Maharashtra leaders from campaigning. Considering Belagavi is just an hour’s drive away from the Maharashtra-Karnataka border, the BJP cannot afford to antagonise either of the two states as it rules both.
After a recent flare-up in Belagavi, chief minister Bommai has tried to cool tempers by assuring that an amicable solution would be found.
But when News18 spoke to two Yellur residents, it was clear that the simmering differences have not yet been calmed.
The situation bubbled up recently after Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde extended some of the health schemes of his state to areas like Belagavi.
News18 spoke to two teachers in Yellur. Mahesh and Prakash are originally from Maharashtra. Despite the fact that they have been living in Belagavi for generations, they still consider themselves Marathis.
Mahesh says, “We can’t even speak Kannada. Everyone here speaks Marathi. The Maharashtra High School behind me has 170 students who are taught Marathi with Kannada being the second language. We will vote for a party, which ensures that the official documents are in both Marathi and Kannada.”
The dragging of feet by the Karnataka government has not gone down well. As one drives down Yellur and Belagavi, many new statues of Shivaji can be seen coming up. New boards in Marathi too have been put up. Clearly, this election will be a test case of Kannada versus Marathi pride.
But 67-year-old Chandrakanth, who presides over the popular old restaurant Uday Bhavan, has hope. His establishment serves both poha, a Maharashtrian dish, and traditional Kannada fare.
“I have Kannadised the traditional Maharashtrian dishes like poha and bhakri roti. But politicians fight over borders. Food has no border dispute. This is Indian food,” he says, smiling, as he serves me kunda, a kind of halwa that is special to Belagavi.
But will the border dispute and the fight to set up Shivaji statues by Bommai tilt the balance? Because Belagavi with its 18 seats matters.
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