Vidarbha statehood, say leaders in one voice

With K Chandrasekhar Rao succeeding in his struggle for Telangana, politicians and activists from 


Nagpur MP and Congress leader Vilas Muttemwar dashed off a letter to party president Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday afternoon urging that the Centre should intervene in creation of a separate Vidarbha state. "Our demand is over 50 years old and has always come up for discussion at meetings of the State Reorganisation Commission. We made repeated demands before the commission in vain," he said. Muttemwar said that KCR's success story has come as a shot in the arm for Vidarbha politicians. Several MLAs and MPs were planning to unite for a common agenda to demand Vidarbha statehood. "We need to leave aside our personal differences and political obligations. It is a public demand and we are with the people of Vidarbha," he stated. 

Devendra Fadnavis, the MLA from south-west Nagpur, said the BJP had supported the Telangana struggle and would now fight for creation of Vidarbha. "The state government has neglected development in the region. Vidarbha's natural resources is being exploited to the hilt and there is large scale unemployment and backwardness. It is high time we carve out the new state," he said. He admitted that there was a need for a consensus among politicians from the region. "If we are united, nothing can stop the Centre from creating Vidarbha," he stated. 

Leader of the Opposition in Maharashtra assembly, Eknath Khadse said that the BJP had always supported creation of smaller states. "We supported Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Uttarakhand. I will be writing a letter to the Centre to expedite the creation of Vidarbha state. It will bring relief to lakhs of people in this region," he stated while addressing mediapersons outside the legislative assembly in Nagpur. Incidentally, the BJP's ally Shiv Sena is opposed to such a move. Sena group leader Subhash Desai said his party would never support creation of Vidarbha as a separate state. "Our party supremo Bal Thackeray believes in Samyukta Maharashtra (United Maharashtra) and we will not allow the state break into two parts," he stated. 

BJP state president Nitin Gadkari, who also hails from Vidarbha, said the decision to support the struggle for Vidarbha state has been taken by BJP at a national level. "We will make every effort to make the Centre concede to our demands. After Telangana, it will certainly be Vidarbha," he stated. 

Former MPCC president Ranjit Deshmukh said he would appeal to all Vidarbha leaders to emulate KCR. Former minister from Vidarbha Anees Ahmed said, "Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee had promised that Telangana and Vidarbha would be created simultaneously. He should not forget his promise to people of Vidarbha. I will take a delegation to Sonia Gandhi as statehood would solve most of our problems." 
Animal husbandry minister Nitin Raut was also in favour of a separate state. However, his colleagues in the party had a different opinion. MPCC president Manikrao Thakre said he wanted Vidarbha to be part of Maharashtra. "As for development of the region, public representatives of Vidarbha should sit together and decide the blueprint." Mumbai Congress chief Kripashanker Singh said he wished that Vidarbha remained in the state. 

Gopaldas Agrawal, Congress MLA, added, "I am fully in favour of statehood. However, we need a leader who is honest to the cause and is ready to make big sacrifice for the cause. The statehood movement has lost credibility due to opportunist leaders."