The Union agriculture minister Mr Sharad Pawar is of the opinion that the people of Belgaum consider the district to be a part of Maharashtra rather than Karnataka. The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief said that
people in Belgaum have said over the past 40 to 50 years that they believe their benefit lies in being integrated with Maharashtra.
Mr Pawar in an interview published in NCP mouthpiece magazine Rashtrawadi said that the trend set by people in their voting patterns was the best indicator of their mindset. The people of Belgaum have faced general elections 15 to 20 times during the last 40 to 50 years. “Each time, the candidates belonging to the Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti have won the elections. The people of Belgaumn have time and again, from the first to the recent elections, expressed their inclination towards the region becoming part of the state of Maharashtra,” said Mr Pawar.
While considering the need to make Belgaum a part of the state on the basis of popular demand, Mr Pawar discarded the claims of various political party leaders that the people of Vidarbha want a separate state. He said that while his party might have declared any stand with respect to the demand for a separate Vidarbha, he was opposed to the idea. Mr Pawar said that Maharashtra was formed after efforts by many. Many suffered untold hardships and it was only after the martyrdom of 105 people that the state was formed. Mr Pawar added that during the formation of the state, Vidarbha became part of the state, but the Hindi-speaking people who have migrated from the Madhya Pradesh, have always held a grudge and only these people are demanding a separate state.
Mr Pawar said that the local people of the state have never been in support of a separate state. “The votes cast by people during the elections are symbolic of the people’s say in a democracy,” said Mr Pawar.