Belagavi: The Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti (MES) which spearheads the movement of pro-Maharashtra leaders for the merger of Belagavi with Maharashtra state, has suffered a virtual whitewash in this election.
The outfit has been rejected outright by people in all the Marathi-majority constituencies of Belagavi region. For many terms in the past, MES won four to five seats consistently in the Belagavi region. It had two seats-Belagavi South and Khanapur- in its kitty in the last election but it failed to retain them.
Several pro-Kannada leaders and organisations feel the whitewash suffered by MES will be a setback for Maharashtra which has been staking claim to Belagavi and other adjoining areas. Kannada organisations feel the defeat of MES goes on to show that Marathi people of Belagavi are against the movement of MES.
NCP leader Sharad Pawar had campaigned for MES candidates by attending rallies in Belagavi. He had urged people to unite in supporting the Samiti's candidates in the election. However, MES went on to lose both its sitting MLAs as well.
