Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti (Committee for Integration with Maharashtra)( MES) is a linguistic socio-political committee based out of

Belagavi Belgaum (ISO: ''Bēḷagāma''; also Belgaon and officially known as Belagavi) is a city in the Indian state of Karnataka located in its northern part along the Western Ghats. It is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous Belagavi ...

city in the Indian state of Karnataka. It acts as a party demanding the merger Belagavi district in Karnataka with the

Maharashtra Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a states and union territories of India, state in the western India, western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the List of states and union te ...

History

After India became independent in 1947, the Belagavi district (which was in the erstwhile

Bombay Presidency The Bombay Presidency or Bombay Province, also called Bombay and Sind (1843–1936), was an administrative subdivision (province) of British India, with its capital in the city that came up over the seven islands of Bombay. The first mainl ...

) became a part of the

Bombay State Bombay State was a large Indian state created at the time of India's Independence, with other regions being added to it in the succeeding years. Bombay Presidency (roughly equating to the present-day Indian state of Maharashtra, excluding Sou ...

. In 1948, the Belagavi City Council passed a resolution declaring that the district was a

Marathi Marathi may refer to: *Marathi people, an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group of Maharashtra, India *Marathi language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Marathi people *Palaiosouda, also known as Marathi, a small island in Greece See also * * ...

majority district and demanding for the inclusion of the Belagavi district in the proposed state of

Samyukta Maharashtra Samyukta Maharashtra Movement ( mr, संयुक्त महाराष्ट्र चळवळ), commonly known as the Samiti, was an organisation in India that advocated for a separate Marathi-speaking state in Western India and Cent ...

. The Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti was formed in the same year pursuing the single point demand for the inclusion of the district in the state of Maharashtra. The

States Reorganisation Commission The States Reorganisation Commission (SRC) constituted by the Central Government of India in December 1953 to recommend the reorganization of state boundaries. In September 1955, after two years of study, the Commission, comprising Justice Fazal ...

recommended the inclusion of the Belagavi district to the state of Mysore. The district was subsequently merged into the Mysore State (currently Karnataka) when the

States Reorganisation Act, 1956 The States Reorganisation act, 1956 was a major reform of the boundaries of India's states and territories, organising them along linguistic lines. Although additional changes to India's state boundaries have been made since 1956, the States ...

was passed by the Parliament of India. '' The Economic Times'' describes the MES to have held a significant influence in the district since.

Electoral history

The committee has consistently supported candidates for the Karnataka Legislative Assembly; primarily from constituencies in the district of Belagavi. The committee members have also contested elections to the Belagavi City Corporation where it has held a dominant position from time to time. It was a registered party in the

1962 Mysore Legislative Assembly election The 1962 Mysore State Legislative Assembly election was held in the Indian state of Mysore State, Mysore (currently Karnataka) to elect 208 members to the Karnataka Legislative Assembly, Mysore Legislative Assembly. Results , - !colspan=10, , ...

. * 1962 Karnataka Assembly : MES won 6 seats. MES won in Karwar, Khanapur, and Nippani.
And all 3 candidates elected from Belagavi were from MES.
1) Balkrishna Sunthankar, 2) Vitthal Patil, and 3) Nagendra Samaji. *

Vidhan Sabha Seat : MES won it in 1957, 1962, 1967, 1972(?), 1978, 1983, 1985, 1989, 1994. * Uchagaon Vidhan Sabha Seat : MES won it in 1972, 1978, 1983, 1985, 1989, 1994, 2004. The seat ceased to exist after 2008. *

Bagewadi Bellad Bagewadi ( Kan - ಬೆಲ್ಲದ್ ಬಾಗೇವಾಡಿ ) is a village in the southern state of Karnataka, India.Village code= 47500 It is located in the Hukeri taluk of Belgaum district in Karnataka. Demographics India cens ...

Vidhan Sabha Constituency : MES won it in 1978, 1983. But lost in 1985 and 1994. * Khanapur Vidhan Sabha Seat : MES won it in 1962, 1967, 1972, 1978, 2013. * Nippani Vidhan Sabha Seat : MES won it in 1962, 1978. * Belgaum 2021 Bypoll Shubhan Vikrant Shelke, backed by the Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti and Shiv Sena, garnered over 1.24 lakh votes and stood third.

Candidates in elections

V N Nisal (President of the first committee)
Dr Kowadkar (Leading light in 1950s)
Shri B R Sunthankar (Leading light in 1950s and 1960s), and MLA from

in 1957 and 1962
Laxman Birje, MLA from Khanapur in 1957 and 1962
Nilkanth Sardesai, MLA from Khanapur in 1967, 1972, 1978
Balwant Bhimrao Sayanak who became MLA from

in 1967 and 1978
Prabhakar Pawashe, MLA from Uchagaon in 1972 and 1978
Govind Ashtekar, MLA from

in 1978, 1983, but lost in 1985 and 1994
Basavant Iroji Patil, MLA from Uchagaon in 1983, 1985, 1989, 1994. But he lost in 1999.
Rajabhau Mane, MLA from Belagavi in 1983, 1985
Bapusaheb Mahagaonkar, MLA from

in 1989.

Narayan Rao Tarale Narayan Rao Tarale (नारायणराव तरळे; 1936–2019) was an Indian politician from Karnataka. He was a member of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly. Biography Tarale was elected as a member of the Karnataka Legislative As ...

, MLA from

in 1994
Sambhaji Patil (1951-2019) was the mayor of Belgavi city for three terms and was elected to the Karnataka Legislative Assembly from the Belagavi Dakshin constituency for one term in 2013.
Manohar Kinekar was a former member of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly from the Uchagaon constituency in 2004, but lost from Balagavi Rural in 2013.
Arvind Patil, MLA from Khanapur in 2013.

References

{{reflist Political parties in Karnataka Belagavi district Single-issue political parties Political parties established in 1946 1946 establishments in India