Maharashtra Halts Bus Services to Karnataka After Driver Is Attacked
A Maharashtra State Transport bus and its driver were attacked by alleged pro-Kannada activists
Maharashtra Government indefinitely suspended all its bus services to Karnataka following a violent attack on the State Transport Bus and the driver allegedly by Pro-Kannada activists in Chitradurga, Karnataka.
On the night of February 21, 2025, tensions between Maharashtra and Karnataka flared up once again, this time over a violent incident involving a state transport bus driver. A Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) bus, traveling from Bengaluru to Mumbai, was attacked in Chitradurga, Karnataka, around 9:10 PM. The assailants, identified as pro-Kannada activists, allegedly stopped the bus, vandalised it, blackened the face of the driver, Bhaskar Jadhav, and physically assaulted him. This shocking event prompted a swift and decisive response from the Maharashtra government, leading to the indefinite suspension of bus services to Karnataka.
The incident wasn’t isolated. On the same day, another altercation unfolded near Belagavi, a border town with a significant Marathi-speaking population and a long history of linguistic and territorial disputes between the two states. A conductor of a Karnataka state transport bus was reportedly assaulted for not responding to a passenger in Marathi, further escalating the simmering regional tensions. While it’s unclear if the Chitradurga attack was a direct retaliation, the timing suggests a tit-for-tat exchange amid a broader language and border row.
By the morning of February 22, news of the Chitradurga attack had reached Maharashtra’s Transport Minister Pratap Sarnaik, who condemned the violence in strong terms. Labeling it a matter of safety for drivers, conductors, and passengers, Sarnaik ordered the immediate suspension of all MSRTC bus services from Kolhapur, a key transit hub near the Karnataka border, to Karnataka. He directed the state transport commissioner and MSRTC leadership to halt operations until Karnataka’s government clarified its stance and assured action against the perpetrators. A police case was registered in Karnataka, but Maharashtra insisted on a firm commitment to prevent such incidents before resuming services.
The fallout was immediate. In Maharashtra, particularly in Pune and Kolhapur, protests erupted. Members of the Shiv Sena, a regional political party with deep ties to Marathi identity, took to the streets, decrying the attack on Jadhav. Some even threatened to target Karnataka buses entering Maharashtra, with activists in Kolhapur placing saffron flags on Karnataka vehicles as a symbol of defiance. The driver and conductor of the attacked bus were felicitated by supporters, while demands grew for a ban on groups like the Kannada Rakshak Vedike, suspected of orchestrating the assault.
Meanwhile, in Karnataka, pro-Kannada activists staged their own counter-protests, blocking roads and burning effigies near Belagavi. They condemned an alleged assault on their own conductor and dismissed the case against him as fabricated. The Belagavi incident had its own twist: the conductor, Mahadevappa Mallappa Hukkeri, claimed he was attacked after asking a Marathi-speaking girl to speak in Kannada, while a counter-complaint from the girl, a minor, led to charges against him under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. Four arrests were made in that case, but the conductor’s fate remained under investigation.
At the heart of this chaos lies a decades-old border dispute between Maharashtra and Karnataka, dating back to the 1956 State Reorganisation Act. Belagavi, with its mixed Marathi and Kannada population, remains a flashpoint, with some Marathi speakers pushing for its merger with Maharashtra, a demand Karnataka fiercely rejects. The legal battle lingers in India’s Supreme Court, but on the ground, linguistic pride and regional loyalties continue to spark clashes.
As of February 23, 2025, the bus suspension holds firm. Maharashtra’s government, backed by public outrage, shows no sign of backing down without assurances from Karnataka. Travelers between the states face disruptions, and the fragile harmony along the border hangs in the balance, awaiting a resolution that seems as distant as ever. What began as an attack on a driver has spiraled into a renewed chapter of a longstanding rivalry, with no clear end in sight.
