Former Union Minister Vilas Muttemwar, in a letter to Congress President Sonia Gandhi, has demanded for a separate Vidarbha state.
The Nagpur MP claimed that he has asked Gandhi to "respect the aspirations of Vidarbhaites by giving them statehood," a press release issued here stated.
In his letter, Muttemwar has mentioned that "the announcement of Telagana state had rekindled hopes of crores of people in Vidarbha and that the demand for separate state was older than Telangana and a number of senior leaders, MPs, legislators had also extended their support of statehood."
The MP also claimed that in 1988 too, former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi had realised the injustice meted out to the region and had also appointed current NCP leader P A Sangma to ascertain the feasibility of restoring statehood. Sangma had also recommended its separation.
Muttemwar also said that it was due to Gandhi's initiative that a panel under Pranab Mukherjee was set up in 2002 to once again consider the formation of Vidarbha and Telangana.
"Since, the statehood for Telangana had been announced, justice should be done with the people of this region," he added.