1. Why in news
1.1. Ajit Pawar called for the incorporation of Balgaum(Balgavi),Karwar and Nilani areas into Maharashtra which sparked the old controversy .
1.1.1. . The Maharashtra government has also asked all its ministers to wear Black bands on November-1 which is celebrated as State Formation Day in Karnataka to express support for the marathi speaking population in the state of Karnataka.
2. What is the issue?
2.1. Maharashtra government claims over 814 villages along the border with Karnataka as well as the Belgaum city which is currently part of Karnataka.
2.1.1. The claim has been contested by the Karnataka government.
3. What was the status of these provinces before its inclusion in Karnataka?
3.1. 1. The present day districts of Vijaypura,Belgavi,Dharwad and Uttara-Kannada were originally in the multilingual province of Bombay Presidency
3.2. 2. In the year 1948,the Belgaum municipality requested that since the province had predominantly Marathi speaking population,it be transferred to the proposed Maharashtra State.
4. What was the decision of the States Reorganization Commission on the demand of the Belgaum municipality?
4.1. The States Reorganisation Act of 1956, divided states on linguistic and administrative lines
4.1.1. it made Belgaum and 10 talukas of Bombay State a part of the then Mysore State (which was renamed Karnataka in 1973).
4.1.1.1. While demarcating borders , the commission sought to include talukas with a Kannada Speaking population of more than 50% in Mysore.
4.1.1.2. Opponents of the region’s inclusion in the Mysore state argues that the Marathi speaking population outnumbered Kannadigas and hence should be included in Maharashtra
4.1.1.3. .Hence the Maharashtra government lodged a formal complaint with the centre to solve this issue which led to the formation of the Mahajan Commission under the former Chief Justice Meher Chand Mahajan in 1966.
4.1.1.3.1. What did Mahajan Commission recommend?