Karnataka temporarily suspends bus service to Maharashtra over border row

The border row between Maharashtra and Karnataka took another turn on Saturday after the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation temporarily suspended its operations to Kolhapur which has a substantial Kannada population, officials said.

The development comes at a time when a few Maharashtra leaders have been demanding the merger of the regions dominated by Marathi-speaking people in Karnataka, especially Belagavi, which the pro-Kannada organisations have been opposing.

A vehicle belonging to Maharashtra was blackened in Belagavi which escalated the



tension between the states, a senior officer in the North West Karnataka Road Transport Corporation said.

"The Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation officials had asked us if there was tension in Kolhapur and asked us not to run any buses. They too did not run any bus," the officer said.

Meanwhile in Mumbai, Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut alleged that Marathi people residing in Karnataka's Belgaum were being victimised, and said an all-party delegation from Maharashtra should visit the city in the neighbouring state to resolve the ongoing stand-off.