It is time politicians, laid greater emphasis on the nation instead of emotions and regions

When sentiments become the prime movers in politics, it is hardly surprising to find that sentimentalism rather than reason or common sense shapes the affairs of State—or of states. So, politicians of all parties are fighting for territory over which Karnataka and Maharashtra stake a claim. On Monday, major protests were planned at the Karnataka-Maharashtra border; Nationalist Congress Party and Shiv Sena leaders were detained as they tried to enter Karnataka’s Belagavi, which both states claim to be theirs. Politicking is in full swing over the issue; allegations and counter-allegations are being traded with the usual flourish. Union Home Minister Amit Shah met the Chief Ministers of Karnataka and Maharashtra, Basavaraj Bommai and Eknath Shinde, last week. After the meeting, Shah said that the two Chief Ministers had agreed to wait for the Supreme Court’s judgment and not to press their claims in the decades-long state border dispute. The issue has been lingering since Maharashtra had been carved out of the erstwhile Bombay Presidency in the mid-1960s. Maharashtra politicians are unhappy that several Marathi-speaking areas, including Belgavi, are in Karnataka. People often get emotionally charged when language or religion is in question; politicians, especially in India, capitalise on this human frailty. But this is exactly what they are doing in this border dispute too.

Consider the recent word war between Bommai and Maharashtra Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis. Bommai asserted that some villages in Maharashtra’s Sangli district, facing an acute water problem, wanted to merge with Karnataka. Fadnavis refuted this claim. Bommai challenged the refutation, But aren’t both Bommai and Fadnavis members of the Bharatiya Janata Party? And, by the way, what is the view of the BJP on the subject? The Shiv Sena and the NCP are essentially regional parties, so it is easy for them to take up the sub-nationalist causes. National parties, however, should not lose sight of the big picture; they should rely on conciliation and dialogue rather than regional sentimentality. Unfortunately, that doesn’t happen in every case. So, disputes over water (between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, between Punjab and Haryana) and borders (Karnataka and Maharashtra, Assam and Nagaland) take place frequently. It is time politicians, laid greater emphasis on reason and nation instead of emotions and regions.