Chavan meets Sonia on Ambedkar memorial, Belgaum
December 30th, 2011 - 10:30 pm ICT by IANS
Mumbai, Dec 30 (IANS) An all-party delegation led by Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan Friday met Congress president Sonia Gandhi in New Delhi demanding Belgaum be declared a union territory till the Supreme Court’s vereict on the long-pending Maharashtra-Karnataka boundary dispute, an official said.
The delegation also urged Gandhi to expedite the sensitive issue of the proposed Ambedkar memorial at Dadar in southcentral Mumbai for which the state has demanded allotment of 12.50 acres of Indu Mills land free of cost.
“We have put forth these demands before the Congress president and she has assured to look into the matter,” Chavan said, emerging from the meeting Friday evening.
The delegation will also call on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Saturday to formally make the two demands.
They were to meet the prime minister Friday, but this was cancelled as the delegation reached the capital late. The centre has expressed its tentative willingness to give around four acres land of the mill, situated in a prime area of southcentral Mumbai, which was rejected by all Dalit parties.
However, in a deft move, Chavan moved a resolution in the state legislature Dec 20 — which was passed unanimously — demanding that the entire Indu Mill land, currently owned by the National Textiles Corporation (NTC), be handed over free of cost for developing the Ambedkar memorial. Even on the Belgaum issue, a resolution moved by Chavan was adopted by the Maharashtra assembly Dec 16 unanimously, demanding that the disputed boundary areas be declared a ‘union territory.’
The developments came in the wake of the supercession of the Belgaum Municipal Council, ruled by the Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti (MES) earlier this month, by the Sadanand Gowda-led Karnataka government, earlier this month.
Last week, Shiv Sena executive president Uddhav Thackeray led a MES delegation to meet President Pratibha Patil and made the same demand (declaring Belgaum and other Marathi-speaking areas of Karnataka as ‘union territory’) before her.
Incidentally, the NTC had moved the Bombay High Court seeking eviction of some Dalit party activists who have ‘captured’ and are squatting in the mill premises since Dec 6.
Following intervention by Home Minister R.R. Patil, the Dalit activists Thursday vacated the Indu Mills premises.
- Chavan to meet PM on Ambedkar memorial, boundary row - Dec 29, 2011
- Declare Belgaum union territory, demands Maharashtra - Dec 16, 2011
- Maharashtra wants Belgaum to be declared union territory (Lead) - Dec 16, 2011
- Uddhav Thackeray meets president on row over Belgaum - Dec 20, 2011
- Thackerays seek urgent end to Maharashtra-Karnataka boundary row - Dec 19, 2011
- Maharashtra locks horns with Karnataka on boundary row - Jul 13, 2012
- Maharashtra to evict encroachers from mill (Lead) - Dec 22, 2011
- Chavan demands land for Ambedkar memorial - Dec 20, 2011
- Land for Ambedkar memorial soon - Mar 30, 2012
- Dalit party threat to recapture Indu Mills land - Mar 06, 2012
- Ambedkar Jayanti celebrated; Dalits stage sit-in (Lead) - Apr 14, 2012
- Congress misleading on Ambedkar memorial, Thackeray warns Dalits - Jan 02, 2012
- Maharashtra to remove encroachers from mill land - Dec 22, 2011
- RPI demands land for Ambedkar memorial, blocks highway - Dec 15, 2011
- Marathi speaking areas of Karnataka should be declared Union Territory: Chavan - Jul 13, 2010
Tags: ambedkar, belgaum, boundary dispute, chief minister, congress president sonia gandhi, dadar, executive president, four acres, maharashtra assembly, manmohan, manmohan singh, marathi, national textiles, president pratibha patil, prime area, prime minister manmohan, prime minister manmohan singh, sensitive issue, thackeray, union territory