KOLHAPUR/BELAGAVI: A 300-strong contingent from the Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance attempting to enter Karnataka to protest denial of permission to attend a Marathi literary conference was stopped by Maharashtra Police on the border, stoking pressure over the continuing border battle between the neighbours. The Belagavi administration in Karnataka clamped prohibitory orders in and across the venue of the Marathi Mahasammelan.
Friction on both facet of the border escalated 5 days after Union house minister Amit Shah requested each states to not press their respective claims on the decades-old dispute until the Supreme Court determined the matter. The commotion mirrored variations amongst elected representatives on the difficulty within the state assemblies that convened for the winter session on the identical day.
At least 50 MVA members from Kolhapur district, together with NCP MLA and former minister Hasan Mushrif, have been stopped by Karnataka cops from getting into the southern state on the Kognoli border checkpoint alongside NH 48 within the afternoon.
The group staged an impromptu sit-in on the Maharashtra facet, affecting freeway site visitors. Maharashtra Police detained the protesters and escorted them about 10-15km additional inside earlier than their launch. Pro-Marathi outfit Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti had organised the conference of Marathi-speaking individuals in Belagavi, the epicentre of the border spat, and invited Maharashtra leaders to take part in it.