Maharashtra and Telangana are involved in a territorial dispute over an 80 sq km stretch of land located on the border of Jivti (Jiwati) taluka of MaharashtraтАЩs Chandrapur district, and Kerameri (kerimeri) Mandal in TelanganaтАЩs Kumram Bheem Asifabad district. Photo: Google Maps
Amid the border row between Maharashtra and Karnataka, the villages contiguous to Telangana in the Chandrapur district of the western State have also raised the demand for inclusion in the neighbouring Telugu State.
At least 14 villages dotted on the border of Telangana demanded inclusion as they were тАШattractedтАЩ to the development and welfare schemes, including Rythu Bandhu, Dalita Bandhu, Rythu Bima, and free power supply to farmers, initiated by Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao.
With both States involved in a territorial dispute over an 80 sq km stretch of land located on the border of Jivti taluka of Chandrapur district, and Kerameri Mandal in Kumram Bheem Asifabad district in neighbouring State since 1956 and claims the territory as their part, the villages are administered by both Maharashtra and Telangana as the matter is pending in the Supreme Court. The villagers have dual voter cards and many have ration cards from both States.
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Half the villages, Karanjiwada, Lakhmapur, Kota, Parandoli, and Jankapur, are part of Parandoli grama panchayat, and the remaining Bolapatar, Isapur, Anthapur, Gowri, Arkepalli, and Paraswada, are part of Anthapur grama panchayat. However, Anarpally of Maharashtra is completely governed by Telangana.
These two gram panchayats have a population of over 6,000, most of whom are Marathi-speaking SCs and some Muslims who migrated from drought-hit Nanded, Parbhani, and Jalna districts of Marathwada between 1970 and 1971, said Congress leader and Rajura MLA Subhash Ramchandrarao Dhote told Today News 24.
тАЬ80% of the people in those villages want to stay with Maharashtra, and the issue was being fueled up unnecessarily. Only 1,700-odd people have electoral rights. Nobody speaks Telugu, everyone speaks only Marathi and a majority of them originally hail from Maharashtra, so technically they donтАЩt have Telangana roots,тАЭ he said.
According to Mr. Dhote, a handful of villagers want to merge with Telangana, and their demand is illegitimate, as the matter is still pending with the Supreme Court. He also said that the work of giving ownership rights of agricultural land in these disputed villages has started. тАЬThey are the citizens of Maharashtra and will continue to remain.
Significantly, the demand was raised on a day when the rebranded Telangana Rashtra Samithi as Bharat Rashtra Samithi inaugurated its office in the National capital on Wednesday.
тАЬThese two gram panchayats have the best of both worlds since they are administered by Maharashtra and Telangana. They vote in both States and interestingly each village has two sarpanchesтАУ one from Telangana and another from Maharashtra,тАЭ said senior journalist and political observer S. Harpal Singh.
He said that while roads are laid by the Maharashtra government, schools are run by the neighbouring State. тАЬThey are not been identified with clarity with either of the States,тАЭ Mr. Singh said.
Villagers maintain that their demand to merge with Telangana is valid as they are getting more benefits from the schemes of the KCR government as compared to Maharashtra.
Earlier, villages in Dharmabad and Lingareddy mandals in Nanded district bordering TelanganaтАЩs erstwhile Nizamabad district have asked for a merger of their villages considering the schemes being implemented there. As many as 25 sarpanches of these two mandals have decided to resign from their post and contest on behalf of Mr. RaoтАЩs BRS party in the local body elections in Maharashtra.
At the same time, residents of Buldana municipality on the border of Gujarat allege continuous neglect by Maharashtra and want to switch over to the neighbouring State for jobs and other government schemes.
