Maharashtra minister’s song for Kannadigas triggers heat

The song, from Raj Kumar’s 1993 Kannada film Aakasmika, has assumed unofficial anthem status among Kannadiga-speakers of the region. On Monday, the BJP tried to play down the controversy and said there is nothing wrong in praising another state while visiting it.

The Shiv Sena, which has been at the forefront espousing the cause of Marathi-speaking people in Karnataka and alleged atrocities against them, wrote in party mouthpiece Saamana on Monday: “Patil has not only insulted people of Maharashtra living in Karnataka but also added salt to their injury.” The editorial demanded an apology from the minister.

But former deputy CM and senior NCP leader Ajit Pawar said, “An apology is not enough; he should resign…. Chandrakant Patil holds the number two position in Maharashtra government. He should have shown some sensitivity when addressing people (in Belagavi). Knowing the long-pending boundary dispute, how could be sing such a song? Congress’s Leader of Opposition in Assembly Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil said, “Instead of resolving the (boundary) dispute, it appears Patil has triggered a new controversy.”

The Sena also said that the “border in-charge ministry” should be taken off Patil. “Chandrakant Patil should be stripped of the charge of border in-charge ministry. When Marathi-speaking people are being targetted and humiliated in Belgaum, Patil has chosen to praise Karnataka…. He has not made any effort to understand the problems faced by Marathi-speaking people there,” Shiv Sena spokesperson Sanjay Raut told The Indian Express on Monday.

In 2015, Maharashtra had appointed Patil as the state’s nodal minister for the Maharashtra-Karnataka boundary dispute. Since formation of the state in 1960, Maharashtra’s political parties have unanimously fought for the rights of 865 villages with majority Marathi-speaking population, most of them in Belagavi district, which was included in Karnataka by the States Reorganisation Act of 1956. The parties want reorganisation of state boundaries and the 865 villages included in Maharashtra, opposed tooth and nail by Karnataka.

A close aide of Patil today said, “Frankly, he had no idea. A local BJP leader wrote a few lines on paper and he sang.”
Calling it a meaningless controversy, BJP’s chief spokesperson Madhav Bhandari said, “We should look at the local context in which Patil used the song. What is wrong when you visit another state and speak about its greatness? Former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Prime Minister Narendra Modi have also come to Mumbai and said Jai Maharashtra.”

But a senior BJP minister said on condition of anonymity, “I think he (Patil) should exercise caution. His casual remarks are unnecessary inviting controversies. In the present context, it is important to know what not to say, as people are sensitive.” In Kolhapur, protests have been planned outside Patil’s residence on Tuesday. Agitated youths in Maharashtra areas near the boundary with Karnataka burnt the minister’s effigies.

With Manoj More in Kolhapur