Nagpur: The Maharashtra Assembly unanimously passed a resolution on Tuesday to “legally pursue” the inclusion of 865 Marathi-speaking villages in Karnataka into the western state and also urged the union government to ask Karnataka state to guarantee the safety of Marathi people living in the Karnataka border.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde moved a resolution in both houses, expressed solidarity with the people living in the boundary areas. The state government will legally pursue in the Supreme Court the case to include inch and inch of land of Belgaum, Karwar Bidar, Nipani, Bhalki cities and the 865 Marathi-speaking villages in Karnataka, the resolution said.

The assembly in its resolution said central government should urge the Karnataka government to implement the decision taken in a meeting with the Union Home Minister. The central government should give directives to the Karnataka government to guarantee the safety of the Marathi people in the border areas.

The Council passed the resolution unanimously in the presence of Deputy Chairperson Dr Neelam Gorhe. The border issue dates back to 1957 after the re-organization of states on linguistic lines.

Maharashtra laid claim to Belagavi, which was part of the erstwhile Bombay Presidency, as it has a sizable Marathi-speaking population. It also laid claim to more than 800 Marathi-speaking villages which are currently part of Karnataka. Karnataka maintains the demarcation done on linguistic lines as per the States Re-organization Act and the 1967 Mahajan Commission Report as final.