Mumbai: Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray said that MahaVikasAghadi (MVA) is committed towards integrating the areas of Karnataka in Maharashtra where Marathi-speaking people are in big numbers. The Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) in the tweet said that this will be the “true tribute” to martyrs of the cause.

The CMO tweeted, “Bringing Karnataka-occupied Marathi-speaking and cultural areas in Maharashtra will be the true tribute to those who accepted martyrdom in the boundary row. We are united and committed towards it. Respects to the martyrs with this promise.”

Maharashtra claims Belgaum and some other regions, part of the former Bombay Presidency but currently in Karnataka, on linguistic backgrounds. Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti, a regional organisation battling for the union of Belgaum and some other border regions with Maharashtra, observes January 17 as the Martyrs’ Day for those who laid down their lives for the cause in 1956.

Maharashtra claims certain areas such as Belgaum, Karwar and Nippani which are part of Karnataka, competing that the huge number of people in these areas is Marathi-speaking. The row between the two states over Belgaum and other border areas is undecided before the Supreme Court from past few years.