Thaindian News

Bangalore, Dec 15 (IANS) Karnataka Thursday dissolved the pro-Maharashtra party-ruled city corporation in Belgaum following several acts considered anti-Kannada by the government and pro-Kannada organizations.

“The Belgaum city corporation has been superseded as it had failed to carry out its duties properly, for not cooperating with the state government and some actions that went against Kannada,” Chief Minister D. V. Sadananda Gowda announced in the assembly.

The civic body was ruled by Maharashtra Ekikaran Samithi that stands for merging Belgaum with neighbouring Maharashtra.

Belgaum, about 500 km north of Bangalore, has a mixed population of Kannada and Marathi speaking people and was merged with Karnataka, then Mysore state, on Nov 1, 1956 as part of the reorganisation of states on language basis.

The government had issued notice to the civic body’s mayor Manada Balekundri and her deputy Renu Killekar for not taking part in the Rajyotsava Day (State formation Day) celebrations on Nov 1.

The mayor and other MES corporators had observed Nov 1 as a “black day” and taken out a rally in Belgaum.

The notice had also questioned the civic body’s decision not to facilitate well-known Kannada writer Chandrashekar Kamabar, who was awarded the Jnanpith Award for this year.

The MES corporators were against honouring Kambar as he advocated Kannada as medium of education and for naming Belgaum “Belagavi” as it is called in Kannada.

MES has the support of Shiv Sena, whose chief Bal Thackeray had criticised Kambar for his statements.

Following Thackeray’s outburst in Shiv Sena mouthpiece “Saamna”, Karnataka police had advised Kambar to avoid visiting Belgaum till tempers cool down.