In a new dimension to the Maharashtra-Karnataka boundary dispute, the Maharashtra assembly Friday passed a unanimous motion urging the centre to declare Belgaum in Karnataka as a union territory till the Supreme Court delivers its final verdict on the dispute.

Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan, who was replying to an adjournment motion on the issue moved by Shiv Sena leader Subhash Desai, also assured the house that he would lead an all-party delegation to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the issue.

However, Speaker Dilip Walse-Patil declined the adjournment motion and said that an all-party meeting with the government would consider all the views on the contentious issue.

After uproarious scenes leading to four adjournments on the issue, the assembly met again to debate the matter. Desai, who had proposed the earlier adjournment motion, said that the Karnataka government was deliberately suppressing the voice of the Marathi-speaking people of Belgaum and surrounding areas and subjecting them to "atrocities."

The assembly unanimously demanded that the central government should take appropriate action against Karnataka for dissolving the Belgaum City Corporation Council (BCCC) Thursday and appointing an administrator.

The assembly members said Karnataka must immediately re-instate the BCCC, which has nearly three-and-a-half-years of its tenure remaining.

Karnataka's action came ostensibly since the BCCC is controlled by the Maharashtra Ekikaran Samithi (MES) which has been demanding merger of the Marathi-speaking areas of the region with Maharashtra.