The Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti (MES) marked Karnataka Rajyotsava as Black Day in Belagavi on Friday. Members gathered at the Wadagaon-Shahapur grounds in the morning, voicing demands for Belagavi and other Marathi-speaking areas to join Maharashtra. They raised slogans against the Union Government and held placards expressing their discontent.
Though the district administration had initially denied permission for the Black Day events, it later allowed the gathering and protest rally. The protest included a bike and bicycle rally, as well as a padayatra through the old city lanes.
Speakers included Sri Ram Sene leader Ramakant Konduskar and MES leaders Manohar Kinekar, Maloji Ashtekar, Shubham Shelke, and Deepak Dalvi. Shelke criticized the Union Government for not conducting a new language census or redrawing state boundaries along linguistic lines and accused the State government of imposing Kannada and disregarding Marathi-medium schools in border regions.
City police implemented stringent security measures, with a team led by Assistant Commissioner of Police Satya Nayak overseeing the event and rally.
