BELGAUM

States Reorganisation Act of 1956:

• The dispute between Maharashtra and Karnataka over Belgaum and other border areas is a longstanding issue between the two states.
  
  
• The erstwhile Bombay Presidency, a multilingual province, included the present-day Karnataka districts of Bijapur, Belgaum, Dharwar and Uttara-Kannada (previously North Kanara).
  
  
• However, the States Reorganisation Act of 1956, which divided states on linguistic and administrative lines, made Belgaum a part of the then Mysore State (renamed Karnataka in 1973).
  
  

Mahajan commission:

• The Maharashtra government contested the inclusion and lodged a protest with the Centre in September 1957. This led to the formation of the Mahajan Commission under former Chief Justice Mehr Chand Mahajan in October 1966.
  
  
• The Commission, which submitted its report in August 1967, recommended that 264 villages be transferred to Maharashtra and that Belgaum and 247 villages remain with Karnataka.
  
  
• Maharashtra rejected the report and continues to claim over 865 villages along the border, as well as Belgaum city, which are currently part of Karnataka.