Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut has termed the Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti's defeat in the Belgaum civic election in neighbouring Karnataka as "unfortunate" and slammed the Maharashtra BJP for celebrating the poll result, claiming such "betrayal" with the Marathi people was never seen before.

Maharashtra claims Belgaum, part of the erstwhile Bombay Presidency, but currently a district of Karnataka, on linguistic grounds. The ruling BJP in Karnataka got a clear majority in polls to the 58-seat Belgaum civic body, as per the results announced on September 6.