BJP backs Maha in border row

At a time when its ally Shiv Sena has gone on the offensive over the vexed Maharashtra-Karnataka boundary row, the Maharashtra Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday said it favours merger of the Marathi-speaking areas of Karnataka with the state.

"The issue is before the Supreme Court. Maharashtra's side needs to be projected strongly," a resolution passed at a meeting of state BJP executive said.

"It has been 50 years since Maharashtra was formed, but the border issue has not been resolved. Despite Congress being in power at the state and the Centre for most of this period, there has been no resolution of the dispute," it said.