Some pro-Kannada organisations have given a warning of a State-wide protest against the Belagavi City Corporation if the urban local body fails to pass a resolution saying that Belagavi is an integral part of the State.

City corporation members passed a resolution to merge Belagavi city with Maharashtra in 2004. However, this resolution has neither been retracted nor replaced by another resolution opposing it, in the last 22 years.

“This is unacceptable. The city corporation should pass a resolution expressing the desire to remain an integral part of Karnataka and opposing any attempt to merge with Maharashtra. If this is not done in the next 15 days, we will stage a State-wide protest. The protest will not only be held in front of the city corporation where the BJP is in power but also in front of the residences of BJP leaders in Bengaluru and other places,” the coordination committee of Kannada organisations said in a release.

“Mayor Preeti Kamkar, Deputy Mayor Hanumath Kongali and others deferred the issue when it came up before the House a few days ago. This is unacceptable,” convenor of the committee Ashok Chandaragi said in the release.

This follows a protest in Belagavi on Tuesday, against the city corporation by members of various groups of Kannada organisations.

Leaders, including the former MLA Vatal Nagaraj, Sa Ra Govindu, K.R. Kumar, and others participated in the protest. The police arrested the protestors and released them later.